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BYU football recruiting: 2016 DE Keanu Saleapaga chooses Cougars over Colorado

Student Sports

Keanu Saleapaga, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defense end prospect of La Miranda High School in La Miranda, California, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at BYU. Saleapaga was uncommitted coming into today and picked the Cougars over Colorado. He was previously committed to USC, but decommitted from the Trojans in early January.

Saleapaga is a three-star prospect with a 247Sports Composite rating of 84.17. That rating makes him one of the top 100 high school football prospects out the state of California and the 51st ranked strong-side defensive end in the country. Saleapaga had a long list of offers that included Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Colorado, Memphis, Oregon State, Pitt, Texas Tech, and USC.

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Saleapaga posted an impressive 62 tackles, 30 QB hurries, 13.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, four forced fumbles, and a pass deflection is his senior year at La Miranda.

Saleapaga is one of my favorite prospect in this year's BYU class. He possesses excellent size and strength for a defensive end and is very effective against the run and the pass. As you will see in his film and from his senior year stats He uses the bull rush very productively, creating a lot of problems in his opponents' backfields. Saleapaga will do some great things at BYU and should be fun to watch over the next four years.

Saleapaga is one of the few true freshmen in this class who could make an impact for the Cougars very soon. BYU will be looking to replace long-time starter Bronson Kaufusi on the defensive line and Saleapaga has the talent to come in a compete for that spot right away.

Take a look at Saleapaga's highlights: