DL Lopeti Moala Discusses BYU Commitment

On Monday, Orem High School star defensive lineman Lopeti Moala committed to BYU over finalists Utah, UCLA, and Stanford. He picked up other competing offers from Arizona State, Arizona, Iowa State, and USC among others during his recruitment. We caught up with Moala to discuss his decision to commit to BYU.

On what was the biggest factor in his decision, Moala said, "For me as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I would say that was a very strong reason, because I knew coming to BYU I would be surrounded by people with those same beliefs and I would be reminded daily of the importance of those beliefs."

BYU's association with the church played a major role in his official visit as well. " I would say the feeling," Moala said on the best part of his BYU official visit. "There’s a spirit that I felt every time I was there, whether it was at the games or at the facility, there’s just a spirit that you feel while you’re there and you can’t deny that kind of feeling. Especially when your parents are feeling the same thing."

Moala plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His enrollment plans depend on the timing of his mission.

Ultimately, Moala's decision came down to conversations with his parents and the experiences they had at BYU, rather than other factors like NIL.

"The conversation my parents and I had wasn’t about, who was offering the most money or who was going to be able to get me the best NIL deal, but it was about, like I said earlier, where did we get the best feeling. After praying over it I felt good about BYU And we strongly believe that BYU was where we had those feelings."

Moala was on campus with other coveted recruits that had not announced their college decisions. On what his pitch would be to other recruits considering BYU, Moala said, "I would say that BYU may not be the biggest school out there and they might not be able to compete with the money that other schools may be offering, but the feeling you have in that locker room and in the position meetings with those coaches is strong. These coaches here care about you more than just as a football player or a student, but as a person."

Moala spent most of his high school career at Davis High School before transferring to Orem High School for his senior season. Besides starring on the football field, Moala also played basketball for Davis High School. He helped the Darts win the 6A Utah State basketball championship earlier this year.

Moala has great size for a high school prospect at 6'4 and 250 pounds. His athletic ceiling is really high, he uses his hands really well at the point of attack, and he is just scratching the surface of his potential. We project him to end up along the interior defensive line for BYU.

Moala is the kind of defensive tackle prospect that BYU struggled to land in the independence era. He will enroll at BYU with the opportunity to be a multi-year impact player.