Jan. 30--Tight end Tyler Luatua is leaving South Bend, Ind., for Provo, Utah.
The 6-foot-2 1/2 , 255-pound sophomore will transfer to BYU this fall, according to cougaraccess.com's Terrell Williams. Luatua didn't catch a pass in 20 career games with Notre Dame.
Per NCAA rules, Luatua will have to sit out a year.
The Cougars offered Luatua out of high school, as did Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, UCLA and USC, among others.
Luatua's brother, Isaac Luatua, was a senior offensive lineman for national champion Alabama this season.
Luatua's departure leaves the Irish with three scholarship tight ends -- Alize Jones, Durham Smythe and Nic Weishar. That number would be four should Chase Hounshell return.
To date, the Irish don't have a Class of 2016 tight end to sign Wednesday, which is the first day recruits can sign national letters of intent. They have two tight ends who have orally committed from the Class of 2017, including St. Viator's Cole Kmet.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
