BYU picked up another football commitment over the weekend as Cedar High quarterback Mason Fakahua tweeted out that he was taking his talents to Provo, Utah.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder will make it official when he signs his NLI on Wednesday.
After his announcement to join the football program, a number of Cougar fans were confused by the move after looking up his “star rating” and quickly finding out that he didn’t have one from several recruiting websites.
“Why would BYU offer this kid,” fans across the country asked.
Here’s the answer.
While coaching at SUU, Ed Lamb offered Fakahua back when he was in ninth grade. After taking the job at BYU, Lamb kept his eye on Mason despite knowing there was a chance that he might not be able to get him to Provo due to a new coaching staff as well as figuring out which recruits Sitake wanted to go after first.
Congratulations to Mason Fakahua for receiving a full ride offer from BYU Football. @BYUfootball Go Redmen! pic.twitter.com/NyU3mtzuU5
— Cedar High Football (@FootballCedar) November 29, 2016
“I was a little nervous,” Fakahua said after Lamb went from SUU up to BYU. “Everything was in place and then all it once it was gone. But we stayed in contact and I’m glad it all worked out in the end.”
During a football camp, the BYU coaching staff liked what they saw from the playmaker, but told him they would be recruiting him as an athlete and not as a quarterback.
“He’s always wanted to play quarterback so when they told him that he was being recruited as an athlete he was a little disappointed,” said Oscar Fakahua, Mason’s father. “But after they talked about it and when Coach Lamb came down for a visit, they told Mason that they were still recruiting him as an athlete, but would give him a shot at quarterback, too.”
And that’s all he wanted.
“I just want a chance to prove myself (play quarterback), and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll play whatever position they want me to play,” said Mason who was also receiving a lot of interest from Stanford before quickly shutting it down. “I had already made up my mind at that point so they (Stanford) weren’t really in the picture.”
Throughout his high school career, the dual-threat quarterback played on both sides of the ball. As a quarterback this past season, the senior passed for 1,363 yards and ran for a team-high 778 yards in a season that was cut short due to an ACL tear. Fakahua — who also plays on the basketball team — plans to have the surgery after the high school basketball season is over.
When healthy, Fakahua was a nightmare for defensive coordinators with his ability to take off at any moment as you can see here. The senior finished the year averaging a mind-boggling 9.2 yards per carry and was able to turn busted plays into touchdowns for the Redmen.
Fakahua also played safety in high school and is the same size as Kai Nacua who was also a star quarterback in high school. Having a former quarterback playing safety has great benefits as Cougar fans can attest with Nacua putting up big numbers this past season. Utah fans know this to be true too as former Lone Peak quarterback Chase Hansen has been a huge benefit on defense for the Utes over the past two years.
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Committed!???. @BYUfootball pic.twitter.com/n8F1V8470w
— Mason Fakahua (@MFakahua_12) January 29, 2017
