No. 18 JuCo prospect Tanielu signs with BYU Football

PROVO, Utah—BYU head coach Kalani Sitake today announced the Cougars have officially received a National Letter of Intent from Snow College defensive lineman Handsome Tanielu, who is expected to join the team in January.

“We are excited to welcome Handsome to the BYU family,” Sitake said. “He is an exceptional player who is physical, tough and will be a great asset to our defensive front.”

The 6-foot-2, 305-pound junior defensive lineman is the No. 18-rated JuCo prospect in the country and is a four-star recruit after playing the past two seasons at Snow. The No. 3-rated defensive tackle in the junior college ranks, Tanielu was also recruited by Oklahoma State, Texas, Penn State, Boise State, Utah, Oregon State, Kansas, Louisville, Missouri and Houston.

Originally out of Waianae, Hawai’i, Tanielu recorded 36 total tackles with 22 solo stops, three sacks and one fumble recovery in 11 games in 2015, earning Second Team All-Conference honors while helping the Badgers to a 10-1 overall and 7-1 conference record. He helped Snow clinch the Western States Football League title before contributing in the team’s win in the Salt City Bowl in Kansas against Dodge City Community College. Snow’s defense sacked opposing quarterbacks 44 times to rank No. 9 in the country.

In 2014, Tanielu played in seven games and had one sack with 1.5 tackles for loss and one forced fumble, contributing to Snow’s defense that allowed only 17.4 points per game for No. 7 in the country. The team was also No. 11 in rushing yards allowed per game with 93.1.

Prior to playing at Snow for coach Britt Maughan, Tanielu served a two-year mission in Charlotte, North Carolina, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The son of Leo and Martha Tanielu, he prepped at Waianae High School in Hawai’i.