BYU football: Kuj Tapusoa earns his offer (+video)

As camp broke on Thursday, Kuj found himself with a concussion and without any indication of an offer, until Mendenhall approached him with some good news. He mentioned to Kuj that he’d been impressed with his work and that he’d like to see him play for him at BYU.

Kuj was soon met with his coveted BYU offer shortly following camp and his final conversation with Mendenhall. As one could readily assume, he accepted the offer immediately.

“A lot of tears were shed by him and by me when we heard the news that he’d finally made it — that he’d be able to fulfill his dream,” said Johnny Tapusoa. “It’s been a frustrating and a hard process, and I couldn’t be more proud of my son. He had his goal in mind, he kept his head down and he just worked as hard as he could, and he was rewarded with a scholarship.”

Kuj’s scholarship won’t come into effect until the 2015 season. He’ll pay his own way for his first semester in 2013 before leaving for his planned LDS mission following the 2013 season.

When he finally joins BYU’s program, Kuj is aware of the need to employ the same attributes that earned him a scholarship in the first place.

“He knows. I tell him as a father, but he knows and he won’t let up,” said Johnny Tapusoa. “He’ll work even harder now that he’s earned his scholarship, but I’ll be there to remind him that it’s his hard work that got him to where he is, and it will be him working even harder to get where he now wants to go.”

Email: bgurney@desnews.com Twitter: @BrandonCGurney