Published Jan 21, 2019
What it Means: Cornerback JaTravis McCloud Commits to Utah
Andrew Fronce  •  UteNation
Senior Writer
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@AFronceRivals

The University of Utah's 2019 recruiting class got a boost on Sunday with the commitment of cornerback JaTravis McCloud. McCloud, who hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he played for Union High, officially visited Salt Lake City over the weekend after receiving an offer from the Utes a little over two weeks ago. McCloud was strangely under-recruited, but defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah put in the work to scout and build a relationship with the talented defensive back, who is from an area that Utah normally doesn't recruit.

Though there are still two weekends before signing day, McCloud doesn't intend to take any other official visits, and has said that he will be shutting his recruitment down now that he is committed. McCloud also held offers from Texas Tech and Oregon, and was reportedly receiving interest from USC late in the process, as well.


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What the Utes are Getting

McCloud is a dynamic athlete who played on both sides of the ball for his high school. Though he made plenty of big plays at wide receiver, where he really shined was as a defensive back. At 6-foot-0, 170 pounds, McCloud has good size for a cornerback, and also showcased outstanding speed and acceleration in high school. Those physical traits, along with excellent instincts when it came to anticipating where the ball would go, led to quite a few big plays for McCloud. His film also shows that he's not afraid to play physical, man-to-man coverage, and in fact, that was one of the reasons McCloud decided to commit to Utah.


What This Means for the Class

With McCloud and Lacarea Pleasant-Johnson committed, the Utes will take a max of one more cornerback this year, as they were looking to sign 2-3 corners for this class. One name to keep an eye on to fill that spot is Houston defensive back Keeyon Stewart, who visited Utah last weekend. Stewart has seen a meteoric rise in his stock over the last few weeks, so Utah will face stiff competition from a few other schools, including TCU, where he visited this weekend, and Louisville, where he will be headed next week. Washington has also entered the picture recently, and will likely try to bring Stewart in on a visit the weekend before signing day.