The on-again, off-again recruitment of newest BYU commit, Neil Pau’u (Class of 2017)

Neil Pau’u is the 19th player to commit to BYU for the Class of 2017… or the first, depending on how you look at it.  He actually committed to BYU on June 27, 2012, following his sophomore season at California powerhouse Servite High School.  At that time he was a dual-threat quarterback but was recruited as an Athlete for the Cougars.

He was getting quite a bit of early recruiting interest from Utah and a handful of other schools and he told Scout.com that “My parents told me not to (commit right away)… but I felt something inside me to commit.”

However, as a junior he was beat out for the starting quarterback position by 4-star Oregon signee Travis Waller, and the 6-foot-4 athlete converted to wide receiver.  In a limited offensive role as a senior he threw the ball just eight times with five completions for 44 yards.  He rushed five times for 27 yards and a touchdown and caught 21 passes for 211 yards and another score.  He also had 11 solo tackles and a pass deflection.

Pau’u starred on the basketball and volleyball teams and there was some talk of him playing collegiate basketball.  His scholarship was pulled after his senior season (2014) with the hope that there would be room for him when he returned from his LDS mission.  Sitake reported offered him a scholarship near the completion of his LDS mission, rewarding the loyalty Pau’u showed to BYU early on in the recruiting process.

Pau’u was rated 3-stars by ESPN (grade of 72), and 2-stars by Rivals and Scout.  He is the younger brother of current BYU star Butch Pau’u.

Rivals:	(2.0 / 5)
Scout:	(2.0 / 5)
ESPN:	(3.0 / 5)
Average:	(2.3 / 5)

Related Articles:

• Pau’u siblings have quite a rivalry – Kenny Connolly, OCvarsity.com, January 31, 2014
• Pau’u talks BYU commitment – Kylie Malzahn, Scout.com, July 11, 2012

If you have any additional information or insight about this recruit, please include it in the comment section below.