Langi Tuifua

Langi Tuifua committed to Oregon on Thursday

(Courtesy of Langi Tuifua)

The Oregon Ducks recruiting hot streak continued Thursday, but not with a class of 2016 prospect.

Instead, Oregon got on the board with the first member of the 2017 class, as 247Sports four-star defensive end Langi Tuifua committed to the Ducks after phone calls to linebacker coach Erik Chinander and head coach Mark Helfrich.

"I've wanted to commit to Oregon since I got the offer, but my dad told me to wait a little bit to make sure I was making the right choice," he said. "Man, I love Oregon so much. I just wanted to go through with it."

First reported by 247Sports, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound defensive lineman, out of South Jordan, Utah, is a top-200 prospect nationally and the No. 8 player in the country at his position. Given two more high school years to develop, Tuifua could grow into a college-sized defensive end, but if he remains at his current height and weight he would shift to an outside linebacker spot for the Ducks.

Originally committed to Utah, Tuifua took a 26-30-hour car trip to Eugene earlier this spring and came away with the Ducks as his leader.

"It was totally worth it," he said. "Wow, they have a beautiful facility. I could go on about how amazing the school is. I still want to go through the recruiting process, but Oregon is my number-one for now."

Tuifua's commitment is even more significant considering he is teammates and good friends with Jay Tufele, the No. 5 defensive tackle and No. 45 player overall in the class of 2017 according to 247Sports.

"Since we started playing together we were like, 'Hey, let's go for Oregon.' We've got the same interest," Tuifua told The Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this year.

Initially, the duo said they are not a package deal, but that has since changed.

"We are a package deal. I'd be nice to play with him," Tuifua said. "His dream school is Oregon, too."

Tuifua chose Oregon over Oregon State, a school he called his "number two," Boise State, BYU, Utah and Washington State, making him the first commitment in the class of 2017.

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec