BYU Lands Top Quarterback Jake Heaps

The word has come down from various sources that the four-star or five-star quarterback recruit Jake Heaps is verbally committing to BYU and will make his announcement tomorrow in Provo. The reason for the announcement to come at BYU's campus is because Friday is BYU's Junior Day, and Heaps has been planning to attend that for some time.

Heaps is choosing BYU over the likes of Tennessee, UCLA, LSU, and Washington. Some people may wonder why a top-rated quarterback would chose a school that is not in a BCS league.

One reason is that Heaps is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and BYU is a private university owned by the Mormon church, meaning his values and religion are the norm at BYU.

Also, the quarterback history at BYU is nearly one of the strongest in the country with players as Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, who lead BYU to the 1984 national title, Jim McMahon, Gifford Neilson, and John Beck. All of those players played in the NFL, and with BYU's pass-happy offense, Heaps will get the notice from stats while playing in a solid conference.

The last time BYU had a quarterback this highly regarded was Ben Olson, who in 2001 was the nation's top high school quarterback. Olson's career was short at BYU—he redshirted in 2001, went on a Mormon mission, and then transferred to UCLA.

He left BYU because of disagreements, but Olson never materialized from his projected potential partly because of injuries.

Most BYU athletes attend a two year Mormon mission, but Heaps has indicated several times that he has no plans to attend a mission.

The University of Washington was a top choice on Heaps' list because he lived in the area and that new head coach Steve Sarkisian played quarterback at BYU.

If things fall the right way, Heaps could face his hometown school as Washington faces BYU in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

In high school, Heaps led Skyline to a 14-0 season and the Washington 3-A State  Championship as a sophomore in 2007 while earning first team All-League quarterback and 3-A AP All-State honors.