I know Ben and let me state unequivocally that Ben is a great kid. He's had a tough life and has overcome a lot of hurdles. Ben's father has not been involved in his life. His father is African American and his mother is Tongan. Ben was involved as a teenager with gangs and got in a lot of trouble. He ended up incarcerated at a place called Mill Creek in Ogden. While there he came under the influence of some good polynesian men who helped steer Ben in the right direction. Once he was released from Mill Creek he began playing sports at Ogden High. He hadn't really participated in sports until this time. His junior year of high school was his first year of organized sports. He excelled in football, basketball and track. He took second to Cody Fonnesbeck in the 100. He was a great linebacker and tight end for Ogden High. He received recruiting interest from the likes of Michigan but Michigan didn't offer him a scholarship. Ben is a baptized member of the LDS church and he began attending church regularly his senior of high school. BYU was at the top of his list and BYU showed interest but that interest was lukewarm at best. Ben told me personally that he wanted to go to BYU. This was fairly early in the recruiting process. Ron McBride went after Ben very aggressively. In the end Ben decided to go to Utah primarily because of McBride. I don't know if Ben's past caused BYU to not recruit him better or not. At the time, it was common for McBride to do a much better recruiting job than BYU and that was one of the reasons BYU started losing good instate and Hawaiian players to Utah. Ben has had some ups and downs but he is a great kid. He's overcome a lot of adversity and a rough environment. He's very gifted but he has had to work hard and has shown a lot of discipline to be where he is now.