Signing day: Six Alta High School players sign letters of intent

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SANDY — As the six Alta High School seniors gathered early Wednesday morning at the school to sign their National Letters of Intent, a couple of them joked, "now what day is this."

Realistically, it was a day each of them had been dreaming about since they were little kids.

"Not everyone gets to do this, and not everyone gets the opportunity to sign their name on a paper that gets them a scholarship," said tight end Steven Richards, who signed with BYU.

He'll be joined by safety Rhett Sandlin, who also signed with BYU.

Austin Lee, a safety who signed at the University of Utah, said he's looking forward to playing against his high school teammates.

"I've always been way good friends with them, we've always lifted together and hung out together. I'm way excited to play against them. It's different than what we're used to," said Lee.

For Lee, verbally committing to Utah last May and then signing on Wednesday was a very easy decision.

"I love how they moved into the Pac-12, and they have a great history of DBs at Utah. It just felt like home to me," he said.

Lee and Richards will both be going on LDS missions before enrolling at their respective schools, while Sandlin will play a year before serving his mission.

Three other Alta players signed letters of intent on Wednesday as well, Chad Tripp to Dixie State, and Shad Ennis and Cole Afu to Southern Utah.

Alta coach Bob Stephens wanted to make sure it was a special day for all six when he helped organize the signing day party at the school.

"This opportunity only comes around once, and so to put something together and have something for them is a celebration for them and is important to get them started off on their new journey," said Stephens.

Stephens also said that Bryan Engstrom and Ryan Jensen both had offers to play at smaller schools, but instead both chose to walk-on at BYU.

Email: jedward@desnews.com