Tialavea ends the suspense

It was always just a matter of time for Oceanside (Calif.) defensive lineman Russell Tialavea. We spoke to the talented lineman earlier in the month and he said he knew he was going to BYU but just wanted to wait a few weeks before announcing his decision.

“Yeah, I committed to BYU,” Tialavea said. “I really like BYU a lot. It’s a great school and I just had such a good time there on my visit. Being LDS, it was important to me to be at a school where I would feel comfortable and I could fit in with the rest of the students.

“On my trip, I not only got along well with all the players on the team but the regular students on campus as well. I have a lot of family there and it just felt like the right place for me. I told the coaches on the trip that I would likely be committing very soon and I decided now was the time for me to do it.”

Tialavea, 6-3, 275 pounds can play on either side of the ball but prefers defense. His Oceanside squad will get a big test this weekend when they take on city rival Vista.

“They’re one of our rivals and I’ll be going up against their big center, Thomas Altieri,” Tialavea said. “That should be a good matchup and I’m looking forward to it. The week after that, we play Carlsbad who is undefeated and has my cousin, Vic So’oto on the team so these next two weeks will be huge for us.”