Utah Football: At The Finish Line With Transfer Portal Recruiting
Jan 6, 2025, 12:09 PM | Updated: 2:04 pm
The Utah Utes play against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (Photo Cred: Megan Nielson, Deseret News)
(Photo Cred: Megan Nielson, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY—Utah football has been active in the transfer portal over the last few weeks. The Utes have welcomed 16 additions from the portal and seem to be at the finish line with their transfer recruiting efforts.
Utah has effectively tackled critical areas of need, significantly addressing the quarterback, running back, receiver, and defensive secondary position groups.
They landed one more commitment over the weekend, which will likely serve as the final addition to the class. We’ll closely examine each position group in the coming days and weeks now that portal activity is mostly complete.
Lots of activity at the receiver position for Utah
Utah landed another receiver last week, former Wyoming receiver Justin Stevenson. He was one of four unnamed visitors mentioned in an article last week. He visited Utah during the middle of the week and committed shortly after the conclusion of his visit.
Former Washington State receiver Carlos Hernandez also visited Utah last week. After his time in Salt Lake City, he traveled to Wake Forest, where he committed on Sunday. He will follow former Washington State head coach Jake Dickert to Salem, NC.
Arkansas transfer Dazmin James was another receiver who traveled to Utah over the weekend. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder possesses speed that would bolster the dynamic potential of the receiving corps. After his trip to Salt Lake City, he will head to Mississippi State today and California on Wednesday.
Hernandez was not the only Utah visitor who committed to the Demon Deacons this weekend. Former Cincinnati receiver Sterling Berkhalter also visited Utah before traveling and committing to Wake Forest late last week. Berkhalter was another unnamed visitor mentioned last week.
It was expected that Utah would welcome the last unnamed visitor from last week’s article, another receiver, to the program for a visit today or tomorrow. However, with Stevenson’s commitment and the possibility of one or two more returning from this past season’s receiving corps, Utah seems to be done at the position.
Utah State running back Rashul Faison
The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Utah State is one of the top running backs in the transfer portal. He’s now wrapped up visits to Florida State, Alabama, and Utah, where he visited over the weekend. Faison is currently visiting North Carolina, which was previously expected to be his final visit. However, he will also visit South Carolina to see what the Gamecocks have to offer.
Utah is in good shape at running back; however, an opportunity to land a talent like Faison is always worthwhile. However, the belief post-visit is that he will end up elsewhere. His former teammate and current Utah commit, Otto Tia, also officially visited over the weekend.
