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Well, I'm back from a quick trip out of town, and one of the first things I did upon my return was hop on ksl.com and get caught up on the story that started Wednesday afternoon with a press release, and ended Thursday afternoon with a pep rally.
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Only minutes after I received Wednesday's "heads up" from the Heaps family publicist, I had the confirmation I'd been seeking, and from the moment I knew Jake Heaps would be a Cougar, I also knew this wasn't just any verbal commitment.
First of all, it was clear that Heaps was not making this simply about himself. The fact he wanted his announcement to coincide with the commitments of two other highly-ranked athletes spoke to both his willingness to share the spotlight, and his desire to build something special at BYU.
Indeed, Heaps came off as a 17-year old "Pigskin Pied Piper," an already active recruiter and de facto spokesman for a BYU program he won't even officially join until 2010. One could not help but be impressed with the way he carried himself, and the amount of excitement he generated with only a few words and gestures.
While Heaps was the star of the Thursday show at a packed Salt Lake City eatery, WR Ross Apo and LB Zac Stout were as warmly welcomed as the quarterback, with the fans seemingly eager to affirm the players' assertions that Thursday's announcements represents the first ripples of a wave that could crest with the Cougars playing for college football's highest honors.
As a broadcaster and journalist, I admire the execution of yesterday's event. It was audacious, it was well-calculated, it was a little bit of show business, but it was extremely effective.
As a BYU supporter, I admit it was a pretty exciting deal. I also consider it another visible demonstration of Bronco Mendenhall's ability to frame his program in such a way that even the best of the BCS powers fail in their efforts to sway top LDS talent like the players who committed to Bronco on Thursday.
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As you know or may have gathered over the years, I am somewhat sanguine about a lot of what goes on in recruiting. There are others in the local media who do a wonderful job tracking recruits and their options, and I applaud the efforts of those journalists, because it takes a lot of time to do that job and do it as well as they do.
While I realize recruiting is the lifeblood of any athletics program, my personal and professional passion is tilted towards the 60 minutes of football (or 40 minutes of basketball), and not the three (or more) years of recruiting. As I've stated before, I much prefer opening day (of camp) to signing day.
Nevertheless, Thursday was a remarkable day for the BYU Football program. And while the day's ultimate impact may take years to realize, the the Cougars' "triple play" looks like a winner.
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