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Utah loses a top recruit, as a four-star edge rusher flips to the Cougars

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Utah loses a top recruit, as a four-star edge rusher flips to the Cougars


One of the gems of Utah’s incoming recruiting class is now heading south.

Four-star edge rusher Hunter Clegg flipped his commitment from Utah to BYU after returning home from his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission this week.

The American Fork product was a top-three player in the state coming out of high school. He was originally part of the 2023 recruiting class — with highly touted players like four-stars Jackson Bowers and Walker Lyons.

BYU made a strong push to sign Clegg a few years ago. In the summer of 2022, head coach Kalani Sitake hosted Clegg as part of BYU’s most high-profile recruiting weekend of the cycle. BYU had Clegg, Bowers, Lyons and offensive lineman Ethan Thomason on campus at the same time. With the collection of four-stars in Provo, the coaching staff pitched that group as cornerstone pieces of BYU’s early Big 12 era. Sitake had one-on-one meetings with all of them. The weekend included photoshoots in the mountains, a trip to Deer Lake and Top Golf.

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“It definitely felt like this was an important weekend for the program,” Thomason told The Salt Lake Tribune at the time. “They didn’t go over the top to where it is unrealistic. But you could feel it was really important.”

After that weekend, Thomason and Bowers both committed to BYU. But Clegg and Lyons went elsewhere.

Lyons landed at USC — where he played 10 games for Lincoln Riley last season. Utah also heavily recruited Lyons and the program was surprised he did not come to Salt Lake.

Clegg went on a mission, but oscillated between commitments. He originally pledged to go to Stanford, but backed off after a coaching change. He then announced he’d go to Utah.

Now, he has signed with the Cougars.

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Clegg’s addition is important for two reasons. For one, edge rusher is a position of need for the Cougars.

Defensive coordinator Jay Hill has been looking for a pass rusher who can generate sacks. In the last two years, most of BYU’s pass rush has come from the linebacker position with Harrison Taggart and Isaiah Glasker. Getting to the quarterback with a four-man rush is a critical part of Hill’s scheme, he said.

But perhaps more importantly, Clegg flipping from Utah continues a trend of BYU going after in-state recruits already pledged to the Utes.

In the last cycle, Hill put pressure on the state’s No. 3 player, Faletau Satuala, to flip from Salt Lake to Provo. He was able to sign Satuala at the last second.

Part of Hill’s pitch, Satuala and other recruits indicated, was stability. Kyle Whittingham’s potential retirement played a factor, recruits said, with BYU making in-roads with Utah’s recruits.

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“I think [stability] is important,” 2025 recruit Taani Makasini said. Makasini was recruited by both BYU and Utah, but signed with the Cougars in this class.

“I don’t want to go somewhere and the person that recruited me isn’t there anymore. I’m going there to learn from him. I’m not going there to learn from whoever they’re gonna hire next,” Makasini said.



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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president

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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president


Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.



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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods

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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods


BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.

After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.

Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.

“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.

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An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.

Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.





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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months

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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months


EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.

Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.

“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”

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When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.

In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.

Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.

Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.

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In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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