Fresh off a trip to Santa Clara for the Pac-12 Championship game, the University of Utah football team is settling back into Salt Lake City for a recruiting push ahead of the early signing day. This last weekend, the Utes hosted a number of local talents, including American Fork receiver Chase Roberts.
Roberts has been a BYU commit since the summer of 2017, but the Utes are making a final pitch to flip the intriguing in-state prospect. After officially visiting the Utah campus this weekend, he’ll visit the Cougars in Provo before deciding where he’ll play college football.
“My trip to Utah went great,” Roberts said. “Everyone was so welcoming and answered any question I had. I got to see how they run their practice, and something that stood out is how efficient they are in everything they do there. I sat down with the offensive coaches for dinner and we talked about a whole bunch of things—how they want to use me in their system, what they plan on doing on the future and just about life.”
Roberts is planning on serving a two-year mission. He initially planned on leaving immediately after high school, but now is considering playing a year beforehand. A current Utah Ute laid out the path for him—like Roberts, Britain Covey grew up a BYU fan, lived in Utah County and played a year before serving a mission. Because of the similarities between the two, the Utah coaching staff assigned Covey to host Roberts this weekend.
“Britain was an excellent host,” Roberts said. “I asked him a ton of questions and he always gave honest answers. He told me how it’s great playing for Utah and all that. He’s just a great guy. I also talked a lot to Cole Fotheringham. He went straight on his LDS mission, so I got to hear about both of their perspectives.”
Immediately after his visit, the BYU coaches were quick to hit up Roberts about his current commitment.
“Right when I got home, the BYU coaches texted me and said, ‘we aren’t going to look on Twitter and see that you committed to them, are we?’” he said. “I told them the truth and said that I had a good time there and that the Utah coaches gave me a lot to think about. They (the BYU coaches) were supportive, though. They didn’t discourage me going there on a visit—they told me why not, they want me to be 100% sure that I want to be a Cougar, if I’m going to go there.”
A two-star receiver, Roberts plays well above his rating and will participate in the Under Armour All-American game in early January, a bowl game exclusive for the nation’s top athletes. Don’t expect a final word on if he’ll reaffirm his BYU commitment or announce a flip to Utah before then.
“I’m going on my official visit to BYU this weekend (December 14th) and then will play in the Under Armour All-American game (January 3rd) before making a decision on what to do about my mission,” he said. “I’m either going to Utah or BYU, so I just want some time before deciding my future because it’s a huge decision.”
Utah is accustomed to handling the “mission kids.” Cole Fotheringham and Britain Covey are prime examples of the success a football player can have either playing a year of football first or embarking straight on a mission after high school. Roberts could be the next great Ute that takes a similar path.
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