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PROVO — Kelepi Vete and his twin brother, Siosiua, went through their football recruitments side-by-side. But when it came down to a decision, they knew they wouldn't be playing at the same place.
Their recruitments each came down to BYU and Stanford. Oddly enough, one liked BYU the most, the other liked Stanford.
"When we saw it coming from a mile away how we felt about each others' schools, when one liked this school and the other liked that school, we knew from that day forward that this is going to be the place we lock in with," Kelepi Vete said. "Unfortunately, as much as we did want to play with each other, we would end up going separate ways."
Siosiua Vete chose Stanford early, committing to the Cardinal on Aug. 14, 2023; on May 13, Kelepi Vete committed to BYU.
It was a difficult decision for the Vete brothers to decide to play at a different program than the person each grew up next to and did so much with, such as playing football on Friday nights together.
"One of these college coaches that I talked to pointed out that he had twins on his team, but he tried to continue to separate them to teach them that eventually down the road, they're going to have their own lives," Siosiua Vete said. "I applied that to me and my brothers' commitments to separate universities. I feel like if it was down the line that we'd be separated, I feel like it would be college."
But for Kelepi Vete, it was a decision he poured so much time and effort into before committing to BYU.
Like the decision itself, the two prioritized what was best for them throughout their recruitments, regardless of whether their twin was on the same page or not. Kelepi Vete had a criteria that he followed throughout his process, and it was a criteria he took seriously.
"I had a rule which I like to call the three Fs: It was faith, family and football," he said. "There are recruits that talk about a lot of other colleges that withhold these three values, but I believe that BYU is where it shined at the most with me."
The BYU staff made it a priority to take care of Kelepi Vete's priorities off the field, finding him a church and outreach program where could practice his faith. That contributed to the belief he had of the BYU staff — that they are truly people that exemplify his faith, family and football requirements.
"The coaches, they're not only great coaches, but great people, as well, and guys I would definitely look up to as mentors in life," Kelepi Vete said.
He especially connected with defensive tackles coach Sione Po'uha. Not only did he connect with him as a person, but he enjoyed the way he operates his defensive line.
But what stuck out most to Kelepi Vete was the staff's loyalty to him and his brother. BYU was one of the first schools to offer the duo; and ever since they came into the picture, they never left.
"They're like the first coaches that came to see me and showed high interest when other colleges walked away or wanted us to marinate our skills a little bit," Kelepi Vete said. "They've been showing heavy interest ever since — daily conversations, meetings, every time they come out here to the Bay Area, they'll come see us. Our relationship is very tight knit."
BYU currently holds the No. 62 overall 2025 recruiting class, according to 247Sports, and currently has 16 commitments. Kelepi Vete has already gotten to know fellow BYU commit Tyler Payne, who plays at Weber High.
"He's a very cool dude. It was very easy to socialize with him," he said. "We have a lot of similarities on the field and outside of the football field that we share."
The BYU staff made it a priority to recruit the defensive line. Along with Vete, the Cougars have edge rushers Sale Fano, Cole Cogshell, Kendal Wall and Ulavai Fetuli all committed for the upcoming class.
But after the Vete brothers complete their senior seasons, they'll take their careers to separate schools with hopes of finding a new family at their respective schools.
