BYU Hits Huge Trifecta

It was arguably the biggest recruiting day ever for the BYU Cougars Thursday, as Jake Heaps, Ross Apo and Zac Stout all verbally committed during a press conference at a Salt Lake City diner. Heaps is rated as the No. 1 QB by Scout.com, Apo is the No. 56 receiver in the country, and Stout is considered the No. 5 middle linebacker in the country.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for me and my family," Heaps said at his press conference. "I want to thank all the college coaches that believed in me and gave me offers. I had 26 offers and I took all of them very seriously.

"As I've made this decision, I've gone through an interesting process, but I'm only one player," he said after picking out a BYU cap and putting it on. Then he introduced Apo.

"My name is Ross Apo," he said with a smile. "As Jake and I discuss the things that were most important to us, we thought an environment with little distractions was important to us. I don't feel like I need to be in a BCS conference to compete for a national championship.

"So it's my decision to play for BYU. This is the place for me."

Then, after referencing the three as the 'Three Stooges', he introduced Stout.

"My name is Zac Stout, and I'm a linebacker from Oaks Christian. My reasons for being here are the same. I recognize my announcement might come as a shock to some. But only one school could deliver the four things most important to us: Education, Faith, Family and Football. So I've decided that BYU is the best fit for me."

In a bit of an ironic twist, Stout's Oaks Christian team travels to Washington this fall to take on Heaps' Skyline Spartans.

Heaps picked the Cougars over 25 other offers, but narrowed his final five schools to BYU, California, LSU, Tennessee and Washington. Apo had previously committed to Texas before changing his pledge to BYU. Stout committed to BYU over offers from Arizona, Nebraska, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.

The announcement coincides with BYU's junior day, which will take place Friday in Provo. Look for more on the announcement as news comes forward.

Jake Heaps Scout.com Profile