Ricky Parks announcing commitment today at 3pm EST

[MDUte]

Anyone know if he is streaming his announcement live like on FB or Twitter? He’s been listed as a heavy lean towards Iowa with Utah in the runner-up position. But Steve Bartle recently changed his crystal ball prediction to favor Utah. Hoping we get this kid.

https://247sports.com/college/utah/Article/Ricky-Parks-Iowa-Hawkeyes-Football-Recruiting-Utah-Football-Recruiting-Decision-Day–148614438/

[HoosierUte]

Got him!

[cjd1]

COMMITTED🔴⚪️ #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/HjPV2mx2gD

— S E I S ❤️ (@_RParks3) June 28, 2020

[MDUte]

Awesome! That’s a great get beating out Iowa who wanted him really bad. Now we need to get Mason Tafuga and we are rolling!

[Onlyu]

Feel really, really good about Mason.

[MDUte]

Sweet, can’t wait to see him as “committed”! Go Utes!

[WelcomeToSackLakeCity]

Awesome news! Welcome to Utah, Ricky!

On a separate recruiting note, I’m hoping we can land Marcel Brooks, the OLB transfer out of LSU. If you look at his list of offers on 247, we are one of the schools with the lowest number of OLB on the roster, in terms of returning players and commits (3 total). Virginia Tech is the only other school with that low of a number, assuming these numbers are correct. In addition, he was initially recruited as a safety, so he could be bumped there if needed.

Of course, I’m sure more schools than what are listed on 247 will reach out to this kid, and we don’t know why he’s interested in leaving LSU. If it’s for playing time, then we would be an excellent choice for him, especially with how well players are trained here.

[MDUte]

Totally agree, we’d be set at LB if we had Brooks. I hope Colton Swan is at least reaching out with his best pitch. But it sounds like he might be wanting to transfer to Baylor (closer to home). And former LSU DC Dave Aranda is Baylor’s new head coach.

Marcel Brooks

more speculation suggesting Brooks to Baylor

[WelcomeToSackLakeCity]

Yeah, Baylor seems like a probable destination for him, but we’ll see. Hopefully this speculation is as good as the original predictions for Ricky Parks to Iowa 😉

[MDUte]

No doubt! I never heard the back story of how we got Manny Bowen last year through the transfer portal. I realize it ultimately didn’t work out with him, but I imagine there was a lot of competition for his services when he became available.

[Cesar Chavez]

I told you so, you’re welcome.

[Thlete]

What a great pickup! 2021 starting off well.

[Anfernee]

Our recruiting guru Pace must be flabbergasted!

[CB]

LOL. I can’t wait to see the bullsh*t reasoning he comes up with for this one.

[chinngiskhaan]

what makes you think he’ll show up? He has no interest in eating crow, or being excited about anything related to the UofU, he’s a troll, probably a BYU fan. Do yourself a favor and block him.

[User Suspended]

No bullsh*t reason.  Glad/relieved the Utes were able to land a black player after the MS fiasco.  I’ll be watching closely  

[Heike]

Thumbs up for everyone1

[Heike]

Thumbs up for everyone!

[Hellhound152]

As a person that was underwhelmed with the Keil McDonald hire at the time [Pace syndrome], I stand corrected.  Between Parks, Wilmore, and Brumfield he has recruited on a Erickson level since he has been here.  Big get!

[MDUte]

Totally agree. McDonald has been crushing it!

[EagleMountainUte]

https://youtu.be/VosLRSLUhlM

[dystopiamembrane]

Nice. Thank you!

[MDUte]

Another great thing about Park’s commitment is it builds on our success in Florida. Need to keep building our brand in California, Texas, and Florida, the most fertile recruiting ground.

[RustyShackleford]

Why did he get lowered to a 3* on 247?

[EagleMountainUte]

Tribune also listed him as three star. 

[MDUte]

Rivals lists him as 4*
247 has him as a high 3*

[D T]

247Sports Composite has RP rated just shy of four-star status….This could change, depending on how he fares this year, assuming a season gets played.

Outstanding get.

[Dresden_Stormblessed]

Does this mean we stop recruiting Byron Cardwell? I know we usually do one QB a year, is it the same idea for RB?

[MDUte]

I was wondering the same thing. And what if Parks decommits at some point and we had backed away from Cardwell? Then we are left scrambling to add a RB in this class. Even if Cardwell is a long shot to get, it sounds like MacDonald has a great relationship with him and has us right in the mix.

[Central Coast Ute]

In past classes the Utes have brought in more than one RB in the same year. If I remember correctly, they brought in Jordan Wilmore and Micah Bernard in the same class. I’m sure they will keep on with Cardwell. Theu wouldn’t want to be on the outside looking in if Parks decides to flip anyway.

[MDUte]

Yea it looks like we also took 2 backs in 2018 (Brumfield and Rankins) and then only 1 back in 2017 (TJ Green). But this is probably because we took 3 RBs in 2016 (Moss, Shyne, and DHC). So I guess it all depends on what we have on the roster.