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HIGHLAND — Lone Peak’s Chase Hansen committed to Utah Thursday night, picking the Utes over family-favorite BYU. Over the past two weeks, Hansen has spent a lot of time on Utah’s campus, at the Ute Shoot and at their camp, with Ute coaches finally winning him over.
“It’s just perfect, everything about Utah is perfect in my mind,” said the 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback/linebacker. “Many people are shocked that I picked Utah over BYU, and it was a very difficult decision, but I know it’s the right one.”
Hansen had been offered initially by BYU, and had a lot of interest in their program. Utah came offering soon after, and ultimately won him over.
“I love the direction the program is headed,” he said about Utah. “I love the fact that I’ll have a chance to play in the Pac-12. I love the coaches, and I know I’ll get a good education there, and I just really felt strongly that Utah was the best place for me and my goals.”
His primary recruiters from Utah were Kalani Sitake and Jay Hill, but it was another coach that he met during his unofficial visits that really helped win him over.
“I love Norm Chow and can’t wait to play for him,” said Hansen. “I was able to really sit down and talk to him over the past few weeks, and I love him. He’s the perfect coach for me. I feel real comfortable with him and with everything at Utah. I’m very comfortable with my decision.”
About a month ago, Hansen had narrowed down his top schools to Utah and BYU. With BYU coaches recruiting him earnestly, coupled with his family’s history at BYU, it made it difficult to tell the Cougar coaching staff that he had decided to commit to Utah.
“I didn’t enjoy calling BYU coaches, because I seriously do love BYU. My dad played there, and I really love everything about their program,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been a bad decision for me by any means to go to BYU. I couldn’t have gone wrong there, but Utah just had a little bit more to offer me, I felt football-wise. I’m very excited to have the opportunity to be part it.”
Hansen was rated as a 4-star athlete by rivals.com, and threw for 1,812 yards and 14 touchdown for Lone Peak last season. He also tallied 1,027 yards rushing on 183 carries and 12 rushing touchdowns. He had been receiving a lot of attention from Oregon, Washington, Oregon State and from Stanford along with his interest from both BYU and from Utah.
Hansen has plans to leave for his LDS mission straight out of high school. Upon his return, he hopes to compete at quarterback, but is open to playing on the defensive side of the football.
“Quarterback is my first choice, but Utah plays an exciting defense, and I’d love to play defense for them as well,” he said. “Either way, I’ll be part of a program that is really going in the right direction. It’s an exciting time to be at Utah, and I look forward to being part of that program. I can’t wait.”
