BYU football: Y. accepts three Pac-10 football players in transfer

PROVO — Three Pac-12 football players transferred to BYU and will be available for spring football after a unique if not interesting migration.

Today, all are enrolled in the private university in Provo.

One will sit out this coming season but two others, both from USC, will be battling for roster positions.

The trio includes USC transfers Uona Kaveinga, a linebacker, and defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo. The third is Oregon State outside linebacker Devin Unga.

Fangupo and Unga have made the switch even though they will walk on and pay their own way this coming year.

Is this a trend?

Is it a result of BYU's move to independence, just a coincidence due to circumstances, or primarily the stories of three athletes who simply wanted a change in their college experience?

"I don't know all the reasons they are contacting us, three in the last year, but we are hearing one thing with all three of them and that is the environment," said BYU recruiting coordinator Paul Tidwell.

"They are all LDS athletes who, with the exception of one, we heavily recruited. They have been at other institutions for at least two years. The reason we are hearing — and I don't want to be negative of the other schools — is these players wanted to be in the environment BYU provides."

Kaveinga is in a position to help the Cougars the quickest because he enrolled a year ago, then applied for a waiver to the NCAA's transfer rule due to USC sanctions. The NCAA denied Kaveinga's request. Today, Kaveinga knows extensively the nuts and bolts of BYU's defense and would have started last fall after a sterling performance in spring and fall drills had the NCAA not denied his waiver. At 5-foot-11 and 255 pounds, Kaveinga is a vocal leader and physical player whom teammates respond to.

Kaveinga defied his parents' wishes that he sign with BYU out of high school and is now making that happen due to what he's described as "lifestyle comfort" in Provo.

Fangupo is described by USC media as "a massive" defensive tackle, whose departure from the Trojans' program in December leaves a depth issue on the USC line. He is one of seven USC players who transferred after sanctions were levied against the Trojans' program, but he received no penalty from the NCAA, which requires sitting out one year like Kaveinga had to.