Salesi Moa committed to play college football at Tennessee over Utah. The Beehive State-native apparently ruffled some feathers in Salt Lake City with how he made his decision.
However, the five-star recruit and his father adamantly reject an ongoing narrative about the process.
This latest college football drama stems from a report from Rivals/On3 writer Hunter Shelton. It is unclear as to where he got his information.
Who is Salesi Moa?
At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Moa ranks as a five-star prospect in the college football recruiting Class of 2026. He is considered one of the top-ranked athletes in the country and a top-50 player overall.
Moa received 21 offers from schools like BYU, Oregon, Texas A&M, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Boise State, among others. Michigan, Utah, Washington, Michigan State and Tennessee made his top-five.
The Volunteers ultimately received his commitment on the final day of July.
Salesi’s father, Ben, played tight end at the University of Utah in the early 2000s. He caught 40 passes for 492 yards and three touchdowns in 22 games.
Thus, it was a little bit of a surprise when his son chose to snub his alma mater.
How did it go down?
According to Hunter Shelton, the final days of Moa’s recruitment left a sour taste in the mouths of the Utes. They were blindsided.
Moa’s agent allegedly “told Utah the night before his decision that the Utes were good.” Tennessee supposedly “found out just moments before announcing he was choosing the Vols.”
“Utah felt good, until the day of, when Moa became hard to reach,” Shelton wrote.
Salesi Moa responded to the report with just one emoji: 🧢. It is a (not-so) indirect way of calling Shelton (and his sources) a liar. His dad backed him up.
“This (report) is not true I played at Utah I have a great relationships with the coaches and my son Salesi didn’t decide to play for my alma mater and that’s okay his dream was to play for Tennessee and I 100% support him sorry Utah fans we still love the U of U,” Ben Moa responded on X.
What is the truth? We may never know. I typically believe there are two sides to every story, with the truth somewhere in the middle. Regardless of how it went down, Moa chose Tennessee over Utah.