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UCLA Tanuvasa showing why he transferred to the clown college:
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Holladay Ute.
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NarfUteParticipantKeanu Tanuvasa live on @ESPN700
“I gave more to the University of Utah than any other player”— THE REAL U (@therealutahutes) July 8, 2025
Imagine saying that when you were playing with guys like Micah Bernard and Cam..
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UtesRuleParticipantWow! I mean, I liked him…he was good..but, really??!!
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Tony (admin)KeymasterEven if he did, which he didn’t, you don’t say that.
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BrettskiParticipantSounds like he’s fitting right in.
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TednabParticipantFits right in.. Pretty arrogant statement .. chances are he’ll be injured for the rivalry
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HATUman
ParticipantOh really… but did you give 4 years?
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AZUTE
ParticipantDoesn’t matter he’ll be hurt by the time byu plays Utah. Great player can’t stay healthy
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D TParticipantListened to the whole interview…..You can imagine the BS in his eyes, he’s so full of it.
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RickParticipantI honestly never saw him as all that! Compare him to the great interior DTs we have had here over the years and he doesn’t make the top 10 and probably not even top 20. He couldn’t carry Star’s jock strap!
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D TParticipant
Bingo…..DT has always been a position where we’ve reloaded.
#100%Unconcerned
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byufan
ParticipantThat’s literally not the quote. Not that it was taken out of context (which it was), but he didn’t say those words in that order. It’s not the quote.
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D TParticipant
I’ve listed to the entire interview & it’s stunning how full of it he is. He actually says he was entertaining transferring after just three games into the season last year.
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SLC-UteFanParticipantYes the quote is slightly off.
However here is a quote that is from the actual transcript that is almost the same thing:
“You know, I don’t know if there was a player that was more bought into that program than I was.”
That is a loaded statement man.
How can he be more bought into the programm than any other player when he was thinking about transferring as early as the third game in? He stated he was thinking of transferring as early as the 3rd game. Said it himself in the interview.
It’s an insult to the other players who REALLY were bought in and not thinking about transferring.
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Central Coast UteParticipantHe actually did say that, in that very order. And the context is correct.
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UteanoogaParticipantRewording what he said and placing it in quotation marks is really lame. Doing so is not reasonable behavior.
As for the player- he is gone and I’m not going to waste time thinking about him.
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ChasquiParticipantEveryone forgets why he received so much backlash. Nobody cares that Carson Ryan transferred to tds. The problem is because a week before he transferred he was shading another player (Calhoun) for entering the portal and not being committed to the U, only to enter his name a week later.
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chinngiskhaan
ParticipantCome on guys, he didn’t say that. He’s obviously being dishonest about how bought into the program he was, but he did not say what that tweet says he did.
He’s clearly a liar that is more concerned about his pocketbook and his public image than he is about his integrity, but lets not say he said things he did not say. He’s a liar because he says it isn’t about money when its obvious that it was, and he clearly feels guilty about it otherwise he wouldn’t be constantly trying to defend his actions. He’s trying to make himself feel better about leaving for money. Look, I don’t care that he left for more money. That is fine. I’d do the same thing, but why all the lies about it? Just own it dude. “yeah, I left for more money, don’t people do that in every profession?” End of story.
He’s a clown because he won’t shut up about it and he keeps being dishonest about his reasons for leaving, and his level of commitment to the Utes football team.
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HeyyyUguyyysParticipantThis 👆🏼
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PhiladelphiaUte
ParticipantSo Tanuvasa goes from being “more bought in” to Utah’s program…
…to being more “bought by” ybu-p’s boosters.
But correct you are chinngiskhaan. Tanuvasa goes on to say, “the decision to leave wasn’t one that was fully made by myself…uh…because I felt like I was inspired by something greater than myself.”
Yeah, right. Much greater. Like a great big sack of C-notes. But it’s not like he can say THAT out loud. Better off trying to imply the “Lord” was guiding his hand, because He cares about ybu-p football. That’ll really play up to his latest crowd.
Tanuvasa = sell-out clown
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RoboUteParticipantbecause I felt like I was inspired by something greater than myself.
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Participant
Look, I believe in the same God he does. I pray about big decision in my life. It is entirely possible that he did feel like God was telling him to go, but that doesn’t mean money wasn’t the main motivation for even considering it in the first place. I don’t know anyone that is bought in to their current job that wakes up every morning and asks God if he should start looking for another job. You don’t do that unless you don’t feel right about where you are, and if you don’t feel right about where you are, you aren’t bought in.
This reeks of the same stench coming from the LDS guys that convince naive girls to marry them because “God told me you are supposed to marry me.” Don’t use God as an excuse for your chicken s**ttery.
It is honestly so strange to me how these guys committing to TSPP are all so hell bent on making sure everyone knows it’s not about the money. It’s almost as if they’ve been instructed to deny that money had anything to do with it. It is a business now. Football is your profession. It is perfectly fine to leave for somewhere else for more money.
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UteThunderParticipantGiven the “we don’t want to become pay for play” comment made by one of the church higher ups, I’m certain all athletes are asked by the AD to not mention money as being a reason for choosing BYU, or to at least downplay money as being a reason.
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RoboUteParticipant
Among those who tell you how to live, there is hardly a soul whose own morals aren’t incredibly flexible when worldly gain is on the line. Best of all, there’s always an excuse, never repentance.
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UtahParticipantI f**king love that line.
“hey babe, you’ll never believe this, but I really wanted you to marry me. I know you aren’t as into it as I am, but I totally asked god what should happen and guess what! Not what you want, you don’t matter, but what I WANTED is the SAME THING GOD WANTED!!!!
“Damn, do you feel the spirit babe? I bet this is how Joseph Smith felt when god told him D&C 121. F**k, this is sick. We are so blessed.”
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Holladay Ute
ParticipantYou’ve always had it out for our church. Your perspective could not be further from the truth. I don’t know a single person who approached marrying someone that way.
We believe in God. We pray about big decisions. Marrying somebody is the biggest decision of your life. We don’t try to use God to convince somebody to marry us lol.
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Participant
I know two women that this happened to. I know both the wives and husbands very well so I know the stories are true. Both boyfriends claimed to have received revelation for their girlfriends that they were supposed to be married. Both husbands ended up being abusive. It happens. There are lots of people of our faith that use it to manipulate others into making bad choices. It sucks, but it’s true.
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Hoban WashburneParticipantCan confirm. This happened to my wife twice while in college. She turned them down and I’m happy she did, and not just because she ended up with me.
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Participant
There are 17-18 million members of our church worldwide. There will be bad apples and/or weirdos for sure. As there are in ANY organization, especially large ones. Name an organization that you believe in or are proud to be affiliated with and there is a 100% chance I can push back in the same way you and others are in this example. Let’s take the University of Utah b/c we’re obviously all passionate supporters (and likely alumni) of the school. If somebody who were a member of our school murdered people (like Ted Bundy did) who also attended school here (like Ted Bundy did), I guess I should assume that the school home grows murderers or condones that kind of behavior?
I’ve been an active member of our church for 33 years. I’ve met and have rubbed shoulders w/ what I am almost 100% sure is a massively larger sample size of members (throughout the world) than most (if not all) of you have. I have never met a single person who felt pressured by God to marry somebody they didn’t really want to marry. Has that happened? Yes, for sure. Has it happened many times? In a church where you have 17-18 million members at any given time (and growing)? Yeah, of course. And that’s sad and wrong. I’ve personally never met somebody (I’ve heard of it), but it sounds like some people here have met a few. Does the church condone that kind of behavior or is it the mainstream culture? Absolutely not. And if you don’t believe me, I invite you to come to church w/ me this Sunday and find out. Feel free to ask literally anybody in my congregation if that’s how their marriage turned out. I think you will find a couple hundred people in my neighborhood who are trying to be good people, trying to become better people, trying to strengthen their families, and trying to get closer to God who they believe in.
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Participant
This is very ironic. People in this thread are criticizing a person (Tanuvasa) but not the organization (the University) for the person’s actions. That seems very fair and logical, right?!
When it comes to my church, people are criticizing the person AND the organization for that person’s actions. A bad apple like Tanuvasa surely doesn’t reflect on the university (it’s culture, it’s values, it’s beliefs, etc.). But when it comes to my church, a bad apple (like some guy who convinces a girl to marry him b/c God told Him so) reflects on both the individual and the organization! That seems very unfair and illogical (in addition to biased and hypocritical)!
For what it’s worth, I agree w/ everyone here about Tanuvasa. He keeps digging a deeper hole while making himself out to be a total clown.
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RoboUteParticipant
If you were more honest about how the person’s actions could be influenced by the organization (in this case, an organization specially created to influence a person’s actions, their religion). This might be more compelling.
Instead, according to you, if a person within that organization does something that they feel is in alignment with with that organization’s values, the individual must be solely responsible. I think if you’re another member of that organization, that’s a very convenient way to think about it.
Years ago when news hit the media that the catholic church was rife with (and aware of) certain abuses, you were on board to shield that organization from culpability, surely, right? No?
Ask yourself why things are different now, I think the answer’s fairly straightforward. You can love the church for what’s good in it while being honest about what isn’t. That’s ok.
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Participant
You make a great point. I’m not trying to say that an organization doesn’t encourage or influence the behavior (intentionally or unintentionally) of it’s members. That’s obviously often one of the main purposes of any organization (including my church). And I’m also not saying that it shouldn’t hold itself accountable (and find ways to improve) if there were some systemic issue like the Catholic example you gave above. Totally fair point and I hear you there.
But do you also see where I am coming from? It goes both ways. What I am saying is that it’s unfair and illogical to draw conclusions about the organization based on a small % of bad apples.
The church absolutely does not intentionally encourage the situation we’re talking about here (that God told me we were meant to be together and so you should marry me even if you don’t feel right about it). The church teaches that people should think for themselves, pray about questions to God, and then make their own decisions for their own lives. The church also teaches people that they can’t receive revelation for others except under very unique circumstances (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2025/03/digital-only/can-i-receive-revelation-for-others?lang=eng).
Here’s a good example (that is very relevant to the original issue I was bringing up) that a random member of our church gave, which the church has published on it’s own website:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/receiving-your-own-revelation?lang=eng -
Hoban WashburneParticipant
FWIW, I personally lay the blame more at “Utah Mormon” culture than at the church itself. When I was still a member (I was born/raised in the church and left before my oldest kid turned 8), I had experiences in multiple US states as well as a foreign mission and did not hear about similar “God told me you’ll be marrying me” stories like I have repeatedly heard here. There’s a lot of pressure to marry young (my mission president told me when I was being released that my new calling was to find my wife) and leveraging supposed spiritual guidance to accomplish that goal is unfortunately common in Utah.
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Utegator
ParticipantI have a lot of friends who found their purpose after serving a mission, I knew It wasnt for me at 12. Sneaking books in my armpit and reading them in the bathroom during sacrament.
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Participant
I had a girlfriend freshman year (at BYU) whose “FHE dad” dropped that line on her after knowing her for only a week.
And she bought it.
I had to find out from a relative that she was engaged, because she didn’t have nerve to tell me herself.
That guy eventually dumped her for another girl a few months later, using that same line. She must’ve been better looking.
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Jim Vanderhoof
ParticipantMy wife was also told the same by 3 or 4 different students at BYU. Her BYU experience chased her away from the church. Religion should never be discussed on a sports fan board. An outsider looking in (me) or an insider looking out (Holladay Ute) opinions differ in your personal perspectives and beliefs. We are all Ute fans and let’s keep religion and politics out of it. Utah and Holladay Ute are great fans and have good football basketball takes. Religion has tainted the rivalry let’s not let it affect our own fan base.
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Hoban WashburneParticipant
I agree with you, but to be fair, it was Tanuvasa who brought religion (or faith, if you prefer that term) into the conversation to begin with. 😄
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Participant
Exactly my point Hoban. Some see it as weird and abnormal. Others see it as normal based on your religion. Neither right or wrong.
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snorkerelli
ParticipantI disagree with Jim. I can certainly see the merits of your appeal, but I like hearing the different opinions about politics and religion from a group that at least is aligned by something- their Ute fandom. Much better than a boring discussion of utter agreement by those who all drink the same koolaid. Sure, there are uncomfortable disagreements, but that’s how we learn new things and possibly new perspectives. We shouldn’t avoid conversations about things because it’s hard. But, we should give a little grace when doing so.
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RoboUteParticipant
I also agree generally that religion isn’t for a sports board. But the reality is that it IS for this one. Religion is a fundamental part of the rivalry and culture locally. Even though the subject should be kept civil and to a minimum, eliminating it entirely would be an overstep based on the plain realities of the situation.
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RoboUteParticipant
Should’ve given more sacks. We have players who have as many or more in one game than he did his whole career.
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ChasquiParticipant
But give him some credit. DT doesn’t bring sexy stats. When healthy, he clogged the middle and did a great job at it. Unfortunately he wasn’t ever really healthy.
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Participant
Thanks for posting interview.He sounds like Sitake jr. He made the right choice for him. $$ and religion imagine that. He gave us 3 years and is a well spoken athlete. I wish him the best.
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TrailgoatParticipantNot sure why it’s so hard for some of these entitled players to keep their mouth shut. Maybe he’s getting NIL to poke the rivalry bear. Between his coaches and family, you would think he’d get have some guidance to be humble and STFU on the topic. Made the decision and moved on to a new scene.
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Participant
I think it’s interesting to consider how both sides have responded. Tanuvasa keeps bringing it up and seems to feel the urge to continue justifying what he did (even by taking subtle digs at the U, which is disappointing). I think it just shows some insecurity and immaturity on his part. On the flip side, Whittingham just says they’ve moved on and are focused on the players they have. Snowden talked about the situation w/ total class. Just feels like the Utes have taken the high road and the other side hasn’t. Whatever. It’s a huge bummer we lost a really good player to our rival. Silver lining, it’s flattering that they wanted one of our players (and perhaps even overpaid for him).
At the end of the day, I think how the situation went down and how everyone has responded to it says something about the people involved…
The way Tanuvasa left says something about him. I’m a Utah man and I expect my teammates to be a Utah man and not chase money…until a week later I am not a Utah man and I chased money.
The fact that he said he considered transferring three games into the season but then says nobody was giving more to the program than him also says something about him.
I think this says something about a person too: I left the program when it was down and out (in the grind during tough times at a 5-7 win-loss record) for greener pastures (a team that was 11-2) and a big bag of money at my fierce rival (at the very moment the rivalry is cooking on high heat). It was the easy route (and perhaps the route most people in life would take). Kind of reminds me of what Kevin Durant did to the OKC Thunder when he bailed for the GS Warriors. Whether this is wrong or not is just up to personal interpretation and your own values. I can’t blame anybody for doing what they think is right for themselves, but I appreciate the guys like Barton, Snowden, Fano, etc. that stuck around to rebuild it and get it back on track, who probably sacrificed money, etc. Those are the people who I really respect and admire. I’m excited and proud to cheer on our team this year. And to watch them go up against Tanuvasa (I’ve got tickets to that game and I’ll be proudly wearing red whether we win or lose). There’s more to life than just money and winning. Loyalty, the way you go about your business, the way you treat people who treated you well, even the way you treat people who didn’t treat you well, etc. All of that matters too. Whittingham is a great example in an industry that’s pretty cutthroat. Could’ve left multiple times for bigger programs, more money, better opportunities to win, etc. He didn’t. He’s my kind of guy and so are most of his players (especially the ones on this year’s team). Even if his team’s sometimes drive you mad.
We’ve all got our perspective, we’ve all got different values, and I’ll admit I wasn’t in Tanuvasa’s shoes. Whatever, we move on. I love that the Utes are taking the high road.
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