Even though the Utah Utes lost out on a prized in-state recruit, the Utes still had one of their best signing days Wednesday.

Utah failed to convince Timpview lineman Xavier Su'a-Filo to become a Ute -- he chose UCLA in a televised announcement -- but the Utes still landed some top talent, highlighted by James Aiono, a first-team All-American for Snow College who is rated the No.1 junior college recruit in the nation by Rivals.com and Latu Heimuli, a defensive tackle out of Highland High who signed with the Utes over Nebraska and Florida.

The sleeper of the class could be defensive tackle Siosaia Tuipulotu out of Euless, Texas, who primarily played rugby as a child and is still learning football. However he has shown enough promise that BYU, Nebraska and Louisville recruited him heavily after he committed to the Utes.

Rivals.com rated the class No. 43 nationally and the best out of the Mountain West, while Tom Luginbill, the National Director of Recruiting for ESPN Scouts Inc., rated it as the second-best in the MWC behind TCU. Scout.com has the Utes at No. 54, BYU at No. 40 and TCU at No. 55.

Rather than rankings, Luginbill says he puts more emphasis on what schools do with the talent they land rather than sign, and for that, he gives the Utes high marks.

"The amount of college-ready guys they are going after who can come in and play at some capacity is only a handful," he said. "What they're looking for is guys who can redshirt or could be really good two or three years out. You have to have a good eye to be able to do that, to project down the road, and Utah has done a good job of that."

The 2009 class includes two quarterbacks, junior college transfer Terrance Cain and Oceanside, Calif., product Jordan Wynn who de-committed from Colorado and signed with the Utes. Both players are already enrolled and expected to compete with Corbin Louks for the starting role when spring practice begins March 10.

The Utes have three receivers among the signees, the area in which they graduate a lot of talent with the loss of starters Bradon Godfrey, Brent Casteel and Freddie Brown. They also signed six defensive backs as they search for replacements for Sean Smith and Brice McCain.

The Utes signed six players from Texas and seven with California ties, both areas of emphasis in recruiting.

The Utes will also count offensive linemen Zach Davila and Sam Brenner, who signed last February but deferred until the 2009-10 season, with the 2009 class.

In addition the Utes will have two players returning from missionaries for the 2009 season in J.J. Williams, a linebacker from Colorado who walked on the team but who will be on scholarship when he returns and Sean Fitzgerald, a 6-foot-3 receiver out of Mission Viejo, Calif.

Two players who won't be back for 2009 are receiver Marquis Wilson, a receiver from Sandy and linebacker Lisi Leota, a junior from Salt Lake City. Both were suspended for the 2008 season and didn't meet the necessary requirements to be re-instated.

The only player the Utes received a commitment from but didn't sign is Craig Payne, a defensive tackle out of California who has some academic issues to address before signing.