BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall said Wednesday that the Cougar football program will host about 20 recruits on campus this weekend in preparation for signing day, which is on Feb. 1 this year.
Eighteen of those players have already committed and/or signed. Among the players who have already signed are juco transfer Marques Johnson and the two quarterbacks who have already enrolled after transferring from Stanford and SUU, respectively, Taysom Hill and Ammon Olsen.
Mendenhall said Wednesday that BYU's increased exposure, primarily due to its ESPN television contract, has sparked more interest in the school from players who are not members of the LDS Church.
"The changes we have seen have just been simply the number of kids that aren't LDS, but for lack of a better word, are Christian kids that are socially conservative, that don't want the normal college weekend lifestyle, that have seen us play, that have heard the commentary about the games, and then the interest of others that we really haven't recruited [in the past] that are reaching out to us. That has been quite a bit different. And how much will come to fruition from that [I don't know]. I can't point to a player right now and say, this kid watched the game, and now we are signing him. But the number of calls that we are fielding and from where, that's kind of been the part we hadn't expected. But it is tangible."


Here's our list of 17 of the 18 guys who will be on campus this weekend and who will be announced as new signees on Feb. 1:

Dylan Collie, 5-10, 200 WR from El Dorado Hills, Calif. (Oak Ridge High School)

Tanner Mangum, 6-2, 182 QB from Boise, Idaho (Eagle High School)

Josh Weeks, 6-4, 200 WR from Show Low, Ariz. (Show Low High School)

Rhett Sandlin, 6-3, 194 Safety from Sandy, Utah (Alta High School)

Matt Hadley, 5-11, 190 Safety from Connell, Wash. (Connell High School)

Austin Hoyt, 6-7, 240 OL from Jackson, Calif. (Argonaut High School)

Phillip Amone, 6-0, 218, LB from Orlando, Fla. (Dr. Phillips High School)

Steven Richards, 6-4, 240, TE from Draper, Utah (Alta High School)

Jamaal Williams, 6-2, 190 RB from Fontana, Calif. (Summit High School)

Jherremya Leuta-Douyere, 6-0, 220 FB from Anaheim, Calif. (Servite High School)

Butch Pauu, 6-0, 215 MLB from Anaheim, Calif. (Servite High School)

Micah Hannemann, 6-1, 185 Safety from Highland, Utah (Lone Peak High School)

Troy Hinds, 6-5, 230, DE from Kaysville, Utah (Davis High School)

Sawyer Powell, 6-1, 205, OLB from Richland, Wash. (Richland High School)

Mid-Year Transfers
Marques Johnson, 6-2, 305, DT from Torrance, Calif. (El Camino Community College)
Taysom Hill, 6-2, 210 QB from Pocatello, Idaho (Highland High School/Stanford)

Ammon Olsen, 6-4, 205 QB from Draper, Utah (Alta High School/SUU)

You may have noticed that a couple players have decommited from BYU in the last six months or so and committed elsewhere. Here's that list:

Bobby Wolford, 6-3, 228, LB from Jacksonville, Fla. (Bishop Kenny High School) committed to Boston College
Kolton Donovan, 6-3, 255, LS from St. George, Utah (Pine View High School) committed to Southern Utah
Zach Lindsay, 6-7, 270, OL from Kaysville, Utah (Davis High School) committed to Utah

We mentioned Wednesday that Mendenhall said the coaches thought they were finished recruiting for the 2012 class a few months ago. But with Jake Heaps transferring and Manu Mulitalo changing his plans and deciding to go on a church mission, two spots opened recently.
Who will fill those?
At one time or another, BYU offered John Ursua, a 5-10, 180-pound receiver from Cedar City and Moana Ofahengaue, a 6-4, 200-pound linebacker from Saratoga Springs (Westlake High). Not sure if those offers are still on the table.
Since we are into lists today, here's a list of out-of-state players who have also received offers from BYU in the past year but have committed elsewhere:

Jordan Simmons, 6-5, 333 OG from Encino, Calif. (Crespi Carmelite High School) -- Committed to USC

Byron Marshall, 5-10, 195 RB from San Jose, Calif. (Valley Christian High School) -- Committed to Oregon
Luke Kaumatule, 6-7, 230 DE from Honolulu, Hawaii (Punahou High School) -- Committed to Stanford
Joe Robinson, 6-2, 230 OLB from Temecula, Calif. (Chaparral High School) -- Narrowed list to Arizona, Nebraska
Russell Hansbrough, 5-8, 185 RB from Arlington, Texas (Bowie High School) -- Committed to Missouri
Atamu Ah Ching, 6-0, 205 MLB from Greer, S.C. (Greer High School) -- Uncommitted
Jalen Richard, 5-9, 195 RB from Alexandria, La. (Peabody Magnet High School) -- Committed to Louisiana-Monroe

Best we can tell, BYU offered about a half-dozen players from the state of Utah who ended up committing elsewhere (including the two instate guys who originally pledged to BYU, Pine View's Kolton Donovan (SUU) and Davis' Zach Lindsay (Utah).

Here's list of others who got away:

Chase Hansen, 6-3, 198 LB from American Fork, Utah (American Fork High School) -- committed to Utah

Hunter Dimick, 6-4, 240 DE from Syracuse, Utah (Syracuse High School) -- committed to Utah

Brandon Fanaika, 6-3, 295 OL from Pleasant Grove, Utah (Pleasant Grove High School) -- committed to Stanford

Jared Afalava, 6-2, 210 LB from South Jordan, Utah (Bingham High School) -- committed to Nebraska

Finally, for those who like to look ahead, here's a list of four players from the class of 2013 (this year's juniors) who have committed to BYU:

Brayden Kearsley, 6-6, 250 OL from Portland, Ore. (Aloha High School)
Trajan Pili, 6-2, 200 LB from Las Vegas (Centennial High School)
Dallin Leavitt, 5-11, 196 Safety from Portland, Ore. (Central Catholic High School)
Moroni Laulu-Pututau, 6-4, 190, TE from Hyrum, Utah (Mountain Crest High School)