A busy recruiting weekend for the University of Utah resulted in a quick commitment.
Read more Passenger terminal at Riyadh airport is struck again, a day after 12 were killed
On Sunday, Texas athlete Brandon Richards made his pledge to Morgan Scalley’s program, becoming the first in-season verbal commitment added to Utah’s 2027 recruiting class.
1000% committed #RNSB pic.twitter.com/babAd7u5cQ
— Brandon Richards (@BRichWR1) October 11, 2026
Who is Brandon Richards?
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Richards plays both wide receiver and as a defensive back for Port Arthur Memorial High in Port Arthur, Texas.
His high school teammate, safety Darrod Jacobs, is also a member of the Utes’ 2027 class — he verbally committed to the school back in June.
Richards, who doesn’t have a star recruiting rating by 247 Sports, announced he received a scholarship offer from cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah Jr. and Utah last Wednesday. Within a few days, he was one of more than 20 high school athletes at the Utes’ 41-24 win over Kansas visiting the school, according to KSL Sports’ Steve Bartle, and one of two on an official visit.
Richards, who Bartle explained is expected to play defensive back at Utah, is enjoying a standout senior season at Port Arthur Memorial.
Going into last weekend, he had scored 12 touchdowns and accounted for 872 all-purpose yards, including 493 rushing yards, 227 receiving yards and 152 return yards.
Mid-Season Highlights:
– 6 wins 0 losses
– 493 Rush
– 227 Rec
– 872 APR
– 12 TD@coachbmorgan @kmangum409 @Who_wantsMike @dctf @GPowersScout @CamSandersonTV @samspiegs @SamLeSueur @TFloss32 @PrepRedzoneTX @MikeRoach247 @ChadSimmons_ pic.twitter.com/805Lrta2nP
Read more Deseret News archives: ‘Saturday Night Live’ broke the rules, won over the TV world
— Brandon Richards (@BRichWR1) October 3, 2026
Richards also competes in track — MileSplit lists his personal bests at 10.84 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.37 in the 200.
He’s received eight scholarship offers at this point, according to 247 Sports, a list that includes fellow Big 12 program TCU, as well as FBS schools UTSA, Louisiana, North Texas and Texas State.
How does Brandon Richards fit into Utah’s future plans?
Richards is the 21st commitment in Utah’s 2027 class, and that includes five from the state of Texas. Four of those commits are defensive back recruits, including Richards.
Following the victory over the Jayhawks that included several Utah commits and other prospects in attendance — notably, it included Richards and Fresno State offensive tackle commit Manase Brown from Corner Canyon High on official visits, per Bartle — Scalley was asked about the impact of having so many visitors at the game.
“Hopefully it means that the atmosphere, the experience is awesome. A lot of these visitors were commits, and a good amount of these visitors were local guys, and that’s going to be a priority here. There’s really good football in the state, really good football,” Scalley said.
Utah’s 2027 class, which currently ranks No. 47 nationally by 247 Sports, includes nine players who prep at Utah schools.
“We love the in-state athlete and what they bring to our culture. And so the experience with the crowd and how we’re performing and the way our guys love those guys up, I think adds to more and more guys wanting to visit,” Scalley said.
Read more Match Review: RSL unable to earn second road win, falls to Philadelphia