BYU Target Sani Tuala Recaps Official Visit

Sani Tuala is one of the fastest rising prospects out West

Last weekend, JUCO defensive end prospect Sani Tuala traveled to Provo for his BYU official visit. Tuala, a native of Australia, is one of the fastest rising prospects out West. Since he started playing football for the first time five months ago, Tuala has picked up scholarship offers from BYU, Washington, Utah, Cal, Houston, Hawaii, Eastern Michigan, and North Texas. We caught up with Tuala to recap his official visit and talk about his decision timeline.

Tuala was on campus from Thursday to Sunday with his parents who flew in from Australia. "My parents actually came out thankfully," Tuala said. "[I'm] really grateful that my parents got to come out experience the whole trip with me. My parents are a big thing in my life...for them to come out here, support me, obviously meet the coaches and maybe meet my future, you know, teammates and the coaching staff that will be there next year."

Tuala, whose parents have never experienced college football, said his parents were surprised by their time in Provo. "My dad was like real surprised, my mom was shocked too. Obviously they don't like fully understand the game yet, but they were trying to understand a bit."

On what surprised him most about his BYU visit, Tuala said, "Probably the connectivity of the team...it's family orientated. Everyone's like brothers really, you know, everyone's connected, everyone's like there for each other. Having a good time."

Tuala was hosted by BYU defense end Isaiah Bagnah - Bagnah recently announced that he will return to BYU next year for his final season of eligibility.

"[Isaiah] was telling me it's really a program like no other, like they treat you like more than like just a player. They treat you as family...he was saying, it was a great place to play football. You get to play in the Big 12 and it's been a really good experience for him."

On what was his favorite part about the visit, Tuala said, "Probably visiting the facilities, getting to know the coaches and all the staff and then probably, when we went to dinner, it would always be a good feed, you know?"

Tuala said they were hosted for dinners in the facilities and at the stadium. The recruits were also treated to Tepanyaki with their visit hosts.

The next few weeks will be busy for Tuala and his family. He has an official visit schedule to Washington this weekend before he will make his college decision. "If everything goes to plan, I do hope to sign by the 20th and get into my new home by next January or like the end of December."

Tuala's Unique Path to Football

Five months ago, Sani Tuala packed his bags and moved from Sydney, Australia to California to play football for Citrus Junior College. He grew up playing basketball and rugby, but he had never put on pads or played football. Tuala, who is listed at 6'5 and 250 pounds, believed that his athleticism and ideal football frame would translate to the football field. Turns out, he was right. After just one season at the JUCO level, he started to attract the attention of various colleges, including BYU. He received a scholarship offer from BYU and he picked up competing offers from Washington, Utah, Cal, Houston, Hawaii, Eastern Michigan, North Texas, and UTSA.

When asked about his unique path to college football in an earlier interview, Tuala said, "It's been real quick to be honest. I didn't know really where it would take me from the start. But I thought I had what it takes...these last couple of weeks [my recruitment] really picked up, you know, [my] phone doesn't stop buzzing."

Tuala's athleticism shows up on his freshman film from Citrus Junior College. He is quick off the line of scrimmage and he was able to create havoc without refined technique. You can watch Tuala's freshman film below.

The Cougars are in need of more edge rushers, and Tuala fits that description. After some time learning Jay Hill's scheme, he could factor into the rotation early in his BYU career. BYU has done a great job to to this point to separate themselves and get Tuala on campus. Now it's up to the coaching staff to close.

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