Utah football hosts USC transfer cornerback on official visit

Utes looking to revamp their secondary following the departures of Smith Snowden, Tao Johnson and others

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley will be tasked with recruiting his first transfer portal class during the 2026 cycle. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Assembling a majority of his first-year coaching staff in short order afforded Utah head coach Morgan Scalley some time to catch up with a former high school recruit the Utes once targeted not so long ago.

It appears Utah's interest in Braylon Conley never wavered, though, even after he decided to take his talents to USC instead of Salt Lake City back in 2023.

Over two years later, Conley is available on the open market once again, this time as a transfer looking for somewhere to play out his redshirt sophomore season. Utah could be a potential destination for the former three-star prospect; Conley went on an official visit with the Utes and shared a photo of himself with Scalley and cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah to X on Monday.

Utah had recruited Conley heavily when he was coming out of Atascocita High School (Texas) as a member of the 2024 class, but he committed to Lincoln Riley and the Trojans instead.

Conley hardly saw the field as a freshman and didn't see his role increased as a sophomore, either. After appearing in one game before opting to take a redshirt year in 2024, he recorded 14 total tackles and forced a fumble in nine appearances during the 2025 campaign, as injuries played a role in his limited playing time.

With USC set to bring in a highly-touted recruiting class featuring six cornerback prospects — including a pair of four-stars in Elbert Hill (No. 7-ranked cornerback in the class) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 24) — Conley entered the portal ahead of the Trojans' bowl game against TCU to field his options.

Utah was put in a position to seek out more depth at defensive back with Jaylen Moson, LaTristan Thompson, Smith Snowden and Tao Johnson in the portal, and Blake Cotton set to graduate in the spring. Nabbing a few prospects who could play cornerback, such as four-star athlete Salesi Moa, during the early signing period helped in that regard, though it probably didn't prevent the Utes from approaching the portal cycle with the goal of bringing in some veterans to their secondary group.

At the moment, Don Saunders and Elijah "Scooby" Davis are the defensive backs with the most Division I experience on the Utes' roster.

Utah's 2025 secondary played a pivotal role in making the Utes defense among the best in the Big 12 against the pass, allowing the second-fewest yards through the air (177.8) and the lowest completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks (49.4%) in the league.

Utah OV….💪🏾@RSNBUtes @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/OU7b9sgV9B

— Braylon Conley (@braylon_conley) January 5, 2026