Filiaga making a name for himself

At the recent Rivals.com Five-Star Academy in Salt Lake City, one of the most impressive looking players at the event was South Jordan (Utah) Bingham linebacker LT Filiaga. Not only did he pass the eyeball test, he measured in at a very solid 6-foot and 235 pounds.

It's no surprise that both in-state schools – BYU and Utah – have stepped up and offered him scholarships early on. It's also no surprise other schools that recruit Utah are very interested also.

"I've been hearing from a few new colleges," he said. "Boise State is starting to look at me. I got a letter from Oregon the other day, along with UNLV. Washington is still writing me hard along with Colorado, but BYU and Stanford have been writing me the most. Notre Dame came to my school last week, and I believe they'll start recruiting me. I'm just playing by ear and going with the flow."

Filiaga said he does have plans this summer to attend some camps.

"I'm going to the BYU NIKE camp in the second week of June," he said. "I'm also going to the all Poly camp in Utah. I think those are the only ones."

"I want some Pac 10 attention. They are all really good schools. I will understand if I don't get recruited by them. UCLA and Oregon are going to the Poly camp and hopefully I get their attention. BYU is going to come see me and Utah will make it, too."

Filiaga admits the recruiting process is exciting, but he has other things he wants to accomplish first before he leaps to that next level.

"I want to concentrate on school," he said. "I want to make sure I'm all set with the NCAA Clearinghouse and then I'll concentrate on taking official visits and going from there."

Early on, though, it looks like the in-state schools hold the edge.

"BYU have impressed me the most with their hand written letters by each coach," he said. "I love the whole coaching staff of BYU. Utah is the same thing, but I don't know too many of their coaches. I mainly know the defensive coaches. My brother is playing for Utah, and I'm going to try to check out some of their games."

"I'm looking where I'm going to major. I want to major in sports medicine. After that it's more of the coaches, their relationship with players and how they treat them. My parents told me it's up to me wherever I want to go. They're not trying to influence me to go anywhere. They're not helping me to favor anyone. They want me to make my choice and they'll support it."