BYU Target Keionte Scott Talks Unofficial Visit, Decision Timeline

Scott is a defensive back out of Snow College

BYU was the first FBS school to offer Keionte Scott a scholarship in May. Since then, the Snow College defensive back has earned offers from Oregon State, San Diego State, Arizona, Colorado, Washington State, and Cal among others. When the recruiting dead period (finally) ended in June, Keionte made the trip to BYU for an unofficial visit. I caught up with him to discuss his unofficial visit, decision timeline, and more.

Photo Credit: Twitter @KeionteS

Scott has a few different connections to BYU. A pair of his coaches at Snow College, Jan Jorgenson and Tanner Jacobson, played at BYU. He also grew up with BYU running back Miles Davis. Scott describes Davis as a "friend I call my brother that I've known since I was little."  In fact, Miles and Keionte have known each other since they were five years old. The childhood friends grew apart before they eventually reconnected in high school.

The two friends stayed in touch as they embarked on their collegiate football careers in Utah. Scott moved to Ephraim, Davis moved to Provo.

When asked about his experience in Ephraim, a small city in Sanpete County with a population of 7,400, Scott laughed and said, "Little Caesars, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and Subway. That's it." Keionte said that while moving to Ephraim was a challenge, it "was just what [he] needed." Being in such a remote location removed all potential distractions and allowed him focus on football and academics.

#AGTG First Team ALL American ✅ DONTBLINK 👀 pic.twitter.com/dFEtJuVTTb

— Keionte Scott (@KeionteS) June 14, 2021

His focus down at Snow College paid off in the form of scholarship offers and being named JUCO First Team All-American as a freshman. In the month of June, Scott made it to BYU, UNLV, and Arizona for unofficial visits. On what made the BYU visit unique, Scott said, "Honestly, the love that the coaching staff showed for the hometown kids...I was thinking 10-12 kids would be on the visit. Instead there were around 60. It just shows that the love the coaching staff has for every kid is real."

Scott brought up his experience attending local camps in high school. At those camps, the hometown kids were often overshadowed by highly-touted recruits who had been recruited to be at the camp. At BYU, the culture was different. Scott noted that one of his favorite parts was "watching the local kids smile when they put on the BYU jersey."

During his visit, Scott spent a lot of time with BYU cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford. Gilford was the member of BYU's staff that offered Scott a scholarship in May, and he has been Keionte's main recruiter throughout his recruitment. Keionte observed Coach Gilford one day as he coached at the BYU Summer high school camps. Coach Gilford's passion and energy caught Scott's attention. "They weren't out there just to collect money, they were out there to coach...Coach G was out there sweating," he said.

After the camp, Scott sat down with Coach Gilford to break down his film, and to discuss the different ways he could be used in BYU's defensive scheme. Keionte noted that BYU likes his ability to play man-to-man coverage.

Scott has tentative plans to announce his commitment to his school of choice on August 11th. Until then, he is contemplating which school "will be the right choice for [his] future."