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Utah football's latest 2015 recruit moved off the mainland in the last few years, but never moved of the Utes' radar.
On Friday afternoon, the Utes received a commitment to the 2015 class from Tuli Wily-Matagi, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound athlete from Kahuku High School in Hawaii who could develop in any one of a few positions in college.
Born in Provo, Wily-Matagi first met Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake as a ninth-grader at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, and kept in touch after moving with his mother to Kahuku shortly before his sophomore year. Sitake and he touched base again at last year's All-Poly Camp in Layton.
Although he quarterback last year at Kahuku, he thinks tight end might be his best fit at the next level.
"[Utah coaches] look at me as an athlete," Wily-Matagi said. "They feel they can move me around, which is pretty exciting."
Wily-Matagi said Colorado was also heating up its relationship with him, but he feels solid in his commitment to the U.
"I just feel like Utah has all the things I want in a college," said Wily Matagi, whose father still lives in Provo. "The family atmosphere they have there, the group of guys, the sense of home. That's what made me want to commit so early. I just feel comfortable there."
Matagi and his Kahuku team visited Salt Lake in the fall, playing local East High and falling 38-15 in September.
He tentatively plans to study kinesiology and may also decide to look into Utah's nursing program.
Matthew Pipermpiper@sltrib.comTwitter: @matthew_piper