Hunter Clegg is one of the many high school juniors who in less than a year have to make the biggest decision of their life up to this point: where they will attend college. And for the four-star recruit out of American Fork High School, that decision is complicated by college football coaches all over the country vying for his services, wooing him with their campuses and facilities.
But Clegg is inching closer to his decision. He told The Salt Lake Tribune that has picked his top seven schools, and two of them are local — Utah and BYU. He’ll announce the entirety of his top seven soon.
In April, Clegg has taken unofficial visits to LSU and Baylor. He has official visits planned to Utah and Stanford in June, and wants to do more that month. His plan is to make his final decision before his senior season at American Fork begins in the fall.
The 6-foot-4 edge rusher said he has largely enjoyed the recruitment process, but that it can at times get difficult with how much time goes into talking to coaches and visiting schools.
While Clegg said there are obvious benefits to staying in Utah and being close to family, he is ultimately looking for a school in a place where he sees himself potentially staying long term.
“I kind of do want to go to college in a place where I’d want to live and settle down when I’m older,” Clegg said. “I’m mostly looking at Utah, California, Texas and maybe a little bit in the south as well.”
Clegg also said he wants to play for a program that will develop him to the point of potentially reaching the NFL and has resources or an alumni network that can connect him to career opportunities for when he’s done with football.
In his junior year with the Cavemen, Clegg had five sacks and 29 tackles. A recruiting analyst for 247sports.com wrote Clegg “possesses a good first step off the line of scrimmage with excellent initial quickness and suddenness at the point of attack.”
“Hunter doesn’t have an off switch,” American Fork coach Aaron Behm said. “He has worked extremely hard to get to where he is. From the weightroom to the field, and everything that he does on his own time, he goes full speed and as hard as he can every single time.”
Not only has Clegg learned just the kind of resources some of the top college programs in the country have when it comes to recruiting top talent, but he’s also learned the level of football he’ll need to reach once he gets to college.
“There’s so many kids that get some offers and they kind of let up,” he said. “But when I go to these college practices, I’m kind of opposite. I’m like, ‘I have to step up my game if I’m going to be able to be out here and compete with guys like this.’”
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