Texas DE chooses Utah

For months Utah has been near the top of the list for LD Bell (Hurst, Texas) defensive end Vili Leveni. On Wednesday, Leveni cemented the Utes at the top of his list by committing.

According to Leveni, it was an unofficial visit to Utah over the summer that made the biggest difference in his decision to commit. "When I took my unofficial visit this past summer, I fell in love with Utah. When I visited other schools like Oklahoma State and Houston, I didn't have that feeling like I did with Utah. At Utah you can get a good education, and they want you to graduate. I also love how Coach Scalley recruits. He makes me feel like a part of the family," Leveni said.

Leveni's relationship with Utah safeties coach Morgan Scalley was a big part of his decision to commit. "He's just been doing a great job with recruiting me. He's been close to me, and helped me know that Utah will take real good care of me when I go up there. He's a really good coach," he explained.

The 6-foot-4 inch, 220 pound defensive end feels that he'll fit well into Utah's aggressive defense. "I talked to Coach Whittingham the other day and asked him about [how I would fit into Utah's defense]. He said they might have me as a defensive end, or maybe as a big outside linebacker coming off the edge. He gave me the basics on it.," he said.

Leveni is close friends with Utah commit Sam Tevi, who also played a part in helping him decide to commit to the Utes. "I was actually talking to him tonight about it before I made the decision. It just really convinced me to make the decision because I knew what I wanted. I really wanted to go to Utah but everybody that I talked to said to go somewhere else, but Sam said to go with my heart. So I decided to go with it.

With his commitment out of the way, Levenit has his sights set at leading LD Bell deep into the playoffs. After the season he plans on taking his official visit to Utah. Leveni chose the Utes over offers from Oklahoma State, Boise State, Missisippi State and Houston, among others.