Unga weighs draft decision

The next few days are critical for Harvey Unga in his decision whether to stay at BYU or put his name in the NFL draft.

As of today, he had not received his evaluation from the NFL, according to friends and he is attending classes at BYU, fully enrolled as if he will attend and finish his winter semester.

That could all change if he decides to turn pro and that is the way he’s leaning right now. The biggest factor for Unga may be risk of taking on an injury as an amateur when he could be making money and get something for his pain and risk of pain.

He has a group of advisors who do have his interests at heart. I spoke to one of them and he told me he thought Unga would put his name in for the draft, but for selfish reasons he’s told Unga he’d like to see the RB add to his school record and solidify his legacy at BYU and that he should stay, have fun and see if he can add more to his game.

This is a tact being considered by Stanley Havili at Southern Cal. After his two-touchdown game for the Trojans in the bowl game, his stock has never been higher. But he believes USC has done a lot for him and he will return for his senior year to add to his profile as a USC back.

Manase Tonga, however, is a different story. He is a senior, he can’t return and because of his talent as a lead blocker and great hands as a receiver coming out of the backfield, he is getting a hard look, perhaps more respect than Unga because he’s a true fullback and blocker.

It would not be a good thing if Unga got drafted in the fifth or sixth round then got cut and not make a chunk of change for his decision.

Right now, he’s doing the smart thing. He’s backing up his chips by staying in school this week just in case that’s exactly what he’ll be doing in April.

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Washington announced it will open up its season Sept. 4, 2010 against BYU in Provo.

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Nicholls State just hired former BYU coach Charlie Stubbs as head coach. He had been working as the offensive coordinator at Central Michigan. He had worked as an offensive coach at Louisville, Tulsa, UNLV, Tennessee-Martin, Memphis and Oregon State. He was also the passing coordinator at Alabama. I last spoke to Stubbs when Bronco Mendenhall was hired as head coach. I think he was at Tulsa at the time. Bright guy and a nice person. Good-luck, Charlie.