UTEP's recruiting momentum from this past weekend's successful round of official visits continued into Monday as Allen linebacker Sione Tupou has pledged his commitment to UTEP.
Thankful for my family and the Lord. I will be committing to the University of Texas at El Paso! ⛏ #picksup #UTEP pic.twitter.com/oobJSjUSEw
— sione tupou (@sione_t32) February 1, 2016
Tupou originally committed to Army in December, but was in El Paso over the weekend and seemed to hit it off with defensive coordinator Tom Mason who had said he has deep recruiting ties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The 5'11, 230 pound linebacker from prestigious and Texas power house Allen High was apart of Allen's 57 game win streak that ended in the state playoffs this past season, and is a two-time state champion.
He moved to defensive end his junior year and was a key pass rusher for Allen the past two seasons. He was also named to the District 6-6A All-District First Team as a defensive end this past season, and was selected for the Polynesian All-American Bowl.
Projected to play inside linebacker at UTEP, the Miners get a kid with a winning pedigree from a winning high school program which has been a trend in Sean Kugler's recruiting plan.
They also pick up another versatile defensive piece that can be moved around in different packages.
The last five verbal commits for the class of 2016 have come from on the defensive side; Kugler will announce 21 high school signees on Wednesday.