Tuipulotu picks BYU over the Gamecocks

National Signing Day was drama-free for Hank Tuipulotu.

The Nation Ford senior football standout experienced a heavy dose of recruiting attention and pressure in the preceding couple of weeks after the South Carolina Gamecocks offered him a scholarship and followed with heavy interest. But the 6-foot-3, 225-pound tight end barely wavered from his summer commitment to BYU, and on Wednesday he signed with the Cougars.

Had the new Gamecocks coaching staff not been competing against BYU – a school with a tangle of connections to Tuipulotu – they might have fared better.

“They gave a gallant effort,” said Nation Ford coach Michael Allen. “I think they really gave the Tuipulotu family something to think about. I think if you ask Hank point-blank, did they have a chance, he would tell you they did.”

Ultimately, those familial and religious connections to the Utah-based school proved stronger. Tuipulotu’s official visit to Provo last weekend firmed up that belief even more. He made his decision over the weekend and informed the South Carolina coaching staff on Monday, while keeping the choice largely to himself.

“That trip really did it for me,” he said.

Tuipulotu will submit the paperwork for his two-year Mormon mission in the next few weeks. Then he’ll find out where he’s headed, before a four-week crash course at a training center this summer. That experience could include foreign language training if necessary.

The schools that Tuipulotu considered – South Carolina, BYU and N.C. State – all accepted his commitment to the two-year Mormon missionary experience.

Tuipulotu said he was offered by the Gamecocks the week that Steve Spurrier resigned.

“I don’t know if he didn’t like me, or what the deal was,” said Tuipulotu, smiling.

The one thing South Carolina really had in its favor, the thing that really made Tuipulotu think, was proximity to home.

“It was so much fun to be wanted by them, especially because they’re an in-state school, so close and such a great option,” he said.

Tuipulotu’s father, Peter, and uncle played football at BYU. Peter is friendly with the Cougars’ new offensive coordinator, Ty Detmer, and head coach Kalani Sitake. Tuipulotu’s mother, Mo, played college basketball at the school. Numerous extended family members live in Utah. And then there was the religious connection.

It was all too much for the Falcon standout to refuse.

“I think I made the decision that was best for me,” said Tuipulotu.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Tuipulotu picks BYU over the Gamecocks."