Utah Utes football: Alta's Austin Lee commits to Utes

SANDY — Alta High defensive back Austin Lee confirmed earlier today that he committed to sign a letter of intent with the University of Utah on Tuesday night.

Lee, a 6-foot, 185-pounder, was also receiving a lot of early attention from such schools as BYU, Utah State, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State.

"Utah offered me Tuesday afternoon, and I committed to them that very night," said Lee. "I had a feeling that the offer was coming, and when it did, Utah was really the only school I wanted to go to, so I committed.

"Utah had been really recruiting me hard over the past month. I spent a lot of time up there, learning about their program, and I love everything about their program. It was an easy decision for me to commit."

Lee was a first-team all-state selection last season, recording 101 tackles, two sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles and 14 pass breakups. He is rated as a 3-star athlete by scout.com, and was recently named as one of the top 21 overall performers of the Badger elite 7-on-7 tournament held in Las Vegas.

"The biggest thing I like about Utah are their coaches," Lee said. "Coach Jay Hill was my primary recruiter, and I really built a good relationship with him. I also got to know coaches (Morgan) Scalley and (Kalani) Sitake, and I absolutely love them and can't wait to play for them.

"I haven't had the opportunity to meet with Coach Whittingham yet, but I will be meeting with him very soon. I've seen how he runs practices, and I love how he goes about his business. He's a great coach."

Lee had been courted heavily by BYU and by Stanford, with both schools looking close at offering him a scholarship before he committed to Utah.