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Tess Crowley, Deseret News
In a signing day surprise Wednesday, Utah inked two new players to add to its 2026 class of high school and junior college enrollees.
Morgan Scalley landed the commitment of junior college cornerback Brandon Holmes on Friday afternoon and also added offensive lineman Milz Asiata, who originally was part of Utah’s 2025 signing class but did not enroll at the university last year.
Holmes, from Fresno City College, originally committed to Arizona before signing with Utah on Wednesday. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound sophomore totaled 45 tackles, a sack, five interceptions and 11 pass breakups during the 2025 season.
Holmes gives Utah more depth after an offseason that saw the Utes cornerback room lose seven players to the transfer portal and graduation.
The addition of Asiata, a 6-foot-5, 331-pound offensive lineman, is an interesting one. A year after signing with Utah but not joining the program — and about two years after graduating from Aquinas High in San Bernardino, Calif. — Asiata is set to join a new-look Utah offensive line room.
While Asiata likely won’t figure into the starting lineup or even the two-deep right away, his size makes him a good candidate for development under new offensive line coach Jordan Gross.
The additions of Holmes and Asiata finalize Utah’s 2026 recruiting class at 20 players — not including transfers from Division I schools.
The crown jewel of the class is five-star offensive tackle Kelvin Obot, who will be coached by Gross, his high school head coach at Fruitland High in Idaho.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Obot is Utah’s first-ever 247Sports composite five-star player and could start right away at tackle in 2026.
Offensive tackle Mataalii Benjamin, from Lehi, is another big get for the Utes. The 6-foot-7, 315-pound four-star — a Deseret News 6A honorable mention — is another promising offensive line talent.
Aside from those two, another player from this recruiting class who could possibly see the field early is running back LaMarcus Bell, who ran for 1,517 yards and 25 touchdowns on 144 carries in his senior season.
The Utes fended off the hometown Oregon Ducks for Bell’s services, and with a productive spring and fall camp, it would be no surprise if he finds carries in the 2026 campaign.
Of course, the story of Utah’s 2026 recruiting class also includes the loss of Salesi Moa. The four-star athlete was ranked as Utah’s second-highest commitment in school history and could have been an instant starter in Utah’s wide receiver room.
Moa enrolled at Utah in January, but before the transfer portal closed, he decided to transfer to Michigan and join Kyle Whittingham.
Moa ended up being the only player from the Utes’ 2026 class to leave after Whittingham stepped down and Scalley took over. Each recruit knew that Scalley would be the head coach in the future when Whittingham stepped away, and signed on ready to play for Scalley if he ended up taking over.
The loss of Moa meant that Utah’s 2025 class doesn’t have a multitude of top-rated talent — each player aside from Obot is a three-star — but overall, the Utes brought in a solid class, especially considering the chaos surrounding Whittingham’s decision to coach Michighan.
Scalley did well to make sure each player — Moa aside — stayed committed through the transfer portal, giving him a foundation of young talent to build on as he embarks on his first season in charge of the program.
Below is the full list of 2026 signees for Utah.
Utah’s 2026 high school and junior college signing class
- Kelvin Obot, offensive tackle, five-star, 6-5, 300, Fruitland High (Fruitland, Idaho).
- Mataalii Benjamin, offensive tackle, four-star, 6-7, 315, Lehi High (Lehi, Utah).
- LaMarcus Bell, running back, three-star, 5-11, 190, Lake Oswego High (Lake Oswego, Ore.).
- Moses Sparks Jr., interior offensive line, three-star, 6-4, 280, V. Sue Cleveland High (Rio Rancho, N.M.).
- Fameitau Siale, defensive end, three-star, 6-4, 260, O’Dea High (Seattle, Wash.).
- Preston Pitts, linebacker, three-star, 6-4, 213, Clear Falls High (League City, Texas).
- LaGary Mitchell, linebacker, three-star, 6-2, 200, Meridian High (Meridian, Idaho).
- PJ Takitaki, defensive end, three-star, 6-4, 230, Lehi High (Lehi, Utah).
- Michael Johnson, quarterback, three-star, 5-11.5, 165, Douglas County High (Douglasville, Ga.).
- Kane Archer, quarterback, three-star, 6-1, 205, Greenwood High (Greenwood, Ark.).
- Major Hinchen, cornerback, three-star, 6-2, 175, La Quinta High (La Quinta, Calif.).
- Rowdy Pearce, interior offensive lineman, three-star, 6-3.5, 285, Midland Christian High (Midland, Texas).
- Aisa Galea’i, cornerback, three-star, 6-1, 185, Orem High (Orem, Utah).
- Milz Asiata, offensive lineman, three-star, 6-5, 331, Aquinas High (San Bernardino, Calif.)
- Dylan Waters, cornerback, three-star, 6-1, 175, Fort Bend Marshall High (Missouri City, Texas).
- Bear Fisher, tight end, three-star, 6-5, 235, Queen Creek High (Queen Creek, Ariz.).
- Tayson Reid, linebacker, three-star, 6-1, 225, Snow College (Ephraim, Utah).
- Earl Parker, cornerback, three-star, 6-3, 195, Hutchinson Community College, redshirt freshman.
- Nicholas Igwe, defensive end, no rating, 6-4, 255, Kilgore College, freshman.
- Brandon Holmes, cornerback, no rating, 6-1, 180, Fresno City College, sophomore.
