Dalton Schultz picked up his first offer in the fall of his sophomore year, but the Utah tight end became a true national prospect a few months later, when he stood out among top players from across the country in a 7-on-7 tournament in Las Vegas.
The Bingham High School (South Jordan, Utah) star was part of a Utah All-Star team that won the NLA Elite 7-on-7 tournament a year ago, beating Keyshawn Johnson’s Southern California all-stars in the title game.
“I think Dalton had two, maybe three touchdowns in that championship game,” said Bingham head coach Dave Peck, who put the Utah all-star group together.
“He was named the outstanding tight end. I think that’s really where he shined and took off nationally.”
Schultz had proven he could compete with the nation’s elite and offers from BYU, Colorado and Cal soon accompanied the one he’d picked up from Utah in the fall. The offers continue to come and Notre Dame joined the group last week.
“I’ve been coaching for 29 years, we’ve put a lot of kids into college, and he might end up being the most recruited kid we've had,” said Peck. “He has offers, obviously from Notre Dame, Nebraska offered him this past week, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Stanford, just about all of the Pac-12 schools, Utah, BYU, Utah State.”
It’s unlikely he’s done either with programs like Alabama interested enough to send their offensive coordinator to Utah during the Crimson Tide’s bye week in the fall.
“I know they’re really high on him too,” Peck said.
The Bingham coach sees Schultz as the total package.
“He’s got a 3.9 grade-point average, great student,” said Peck. “He’ll go knock the crap out of you. He’s got a mean streak when he’s on the football field. If we had a record for pancakes, he’d probably have the record, but we don’t keep track of that. He gets after it.
“I think he’s a guy that could be playing on Sundays someday. He’s got really good ball skills. He catches the ball well for 6-6, 230. He runs well for a big kid. He’s the real deal. To have the great grades and everything to go with it, he’s the whole package. He’s a no-brainer.”
Schultz sets a great example as well.
“He’s a great kid,” said Peck. “He’s a great leader in our program. He’s definitely an excellent guy off the field.”
Notre Dame sees what Peck sees.
“They just think he’s the whole package and everything they would want in a recruit,” the coach said of the Irish.
Schultz is excited about all of the offers, including the one from Notre Dame, but isn’t going to rush his decision.
“He’s already telling me that he’ll take his five trips and then decide,” his coach said. “He’s not going to be an early commit.
“He wants to really go see the campuses and make his decision. I think if he stays in Utah, I think he’ll go to the University of Utah. Stanford is really high on his list, but that was before Notre Dame and Nebraska and some of the other offers.”
