Siaki Ika

[Dresden_Stormblessed]

He’s transferring from LSU. Are we still interested in this kid that played walking distance from the home of the Utes? I’m all for adding talent to the roster, I just have no idea if he’d find a fit here.

[Jay]

He’d obviously have to sit out this year and who knows about next but he would start for sure after this year, we lose 3 seniors if they choose to go.

[Crow]

Why? Things are a mess perfect year to transfer would not lose a year.

[EmersonUte]

I would be interested.  This kid is a huge body, local (East HS right?), and all we do is manufacture NFL d-tackles, ends, and secondary right?  Seems like a good fit.  Come home, put in the work, get to the NFL.  

[Duhwayne]

He should have stayed here to begin with.

[RiseasUtes]

He got to start on a National Championship team, hard to argue that wasn’t a great move for him.  Now he can move on and work towards his NFL goals.

[Onlyu]

Better than average chance he becomes a Ute. LSU has been screwing with him a little. Practices with the 1’s and on game day kicked over with the 2’s. Coach O keeps telling him he’s his guy but I guess he had enough and is moving on. Really likes Pouha so if I were a betting guy I think he comes home.

[Crazyforu]

Reading the tea leaves on this one, seems to be pretty dead on. Would be a perfect fit on Utah’s D-line as well. Which he would have been initially as well. 

[Stone]

Of course, this could have happened even if he had stayed home…but hopefully Utah’s recruiters highlight guys like this (and Cooper Bateman, etc.) to the local recruiting targets.

There is a huge pull for kids to “go away” to school. I get it. It is not just Utah kids that feel that way (hence the many out of state players we have). It does often work out just fine, but the grass on the other side of the fence is not always as green as it appears. 

[UteBacker]

Proof.
Sometimes kids just want to leave home and spread their wings…

[concerned]

Re Arizona 2021: It is astonishing how Oregon has replaced USC as the school that just swoops into other states and takes whomever it wants.

[UteBacker]

What blows me away is out of Arizona’s top 20 players, AZ & ASU have kept #13 and #18. Unreal.

[Stone]

2020 was even worse for the local schools in Arizona. 

[UteBacker]

Good hell.  In TWO years, AZ & ASU have kept THREE of their top 40 recruits???  If that’s the standard, Utah has done an awesome job at keeping our local kids home.

[MDUte]

Taking another look at Ika’s situation, the reports out of LSU say that LSU recently changed their defensive scheme and he’s not the best fit for what they are running. And that’s why his playing time has gone down. For those of you that understand football scheme much better than me, does Oregon run a similar scheme to what LSU is now running? Ika says wherever he goes he’s going to base his decision on wherever is the best fit for him, which he absolutely should. I’m just wondering if we have a leg up on Oregon based on the defense we run and how he would immediately plug right in and have the opportunity to fully develop his game to reach his goal of playing on Sundays? Thoughts?

[Central Coast Ute]

Can’t tell you about Oregon’s scheme, but he does fit into Utah’s so that bodes well for us.