Another 370 days …
Yep, we get to do it all over again on Feb. 7, 2018 — the next signing day.
But reflecting on the 2017 signing day, Nick Rolovich thanked:
> Athletic director David Matlin for budgeting for a recruiting coordinator;
> Recruiting coordinator Jason Cvercko for organizing the operations;
> His assistant coaches for evaluating talent and visiting recruits;
> Fans for social-media engagements,
> And … Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji.
Shoji recruited outside hitter Kalei Greeley, whose younger brother Kade Greeley signed with the Warriors yesterday.
* * * * *
Defensive tackle Anthony Mermea was first approached by UH last March. He committed to UH last week, then de-committed on Tuesday night, then unplugged from social media. Mermea said he was torn because of a late offer from San Diego State, a 45-minute drive from his home. Playing for the Aztecs meant his parents could greet him after every home game. His father then gave his blessing for his son to choose his own path. Mermea chose UH because he wanted to help build a program. He said his father promised to attend all of the Warriors’ road games.
* * * * *
The average ACT score is 29 for an Occidental College student, meaning the pool of football talent is strict. Occidental found an ideal prospect in Hekili Keliiliki, an all-Arkansas running back who had a 4.0 GPA and 30 ACT. But then Keliiliki received offers from Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Michigan, Vanderbilt …
But Keliiliki opted to go on a church mission. While schools decided to back off, Brian Smith, who was Occidental’s offensive coordinator before joining UH last year, always kept Keliiliki in mind, still keeping in contact with him and his father. Keliiliki, who is serving his mission in Australia, signed with UH despite not taking an official visit.
* * * * *
Back to work …
One of the drills is for two players to stand side-by-side. One player takes off and the other has to chase in the 20-yard sprint.
我想我是第一个
Yo! Thanks for the backstory on Keliiki’s recruitment, and props to coach Smith.
And thanks for the Rolo/Shoji photo. Was it taken recently? Shoji’s looking fit (and younger?) despite radiation treatment. Give him our best.
Pics are great. Rolo and Shoji/Greeley sis&bro/Mermea n’ Kade classmates. Wishing coach Shoji a 100% full and speedy recovery. And yes, he looks great and even younger. Now why does he have black hair and mine almost all white? Genes?
H-man, yes genes and also a bottle.
So based on conditioning drills, whos the fastest Warrior right now?
This 2017 recruiting class, on paper, promises to be one of the best since at leastColt Brennan signed, that’s at least 11 years. Overall, I would give a grade of B+ or A-. The DBs are taller, heavier. Both the DL and OL are bigger and taller too. Reed and Keliiliki replaces Harris and Lakalaka and St. Juste and Holly are great runners too. I would have liked to see a speed rusher on the edge, but maybe Tago can fill that void. The receivers will compete for playing time, but we have a lot coming back. Some questions going forward:
1) How many scholarships are still open to sign this year?
2) Do we need another kicker and or punter?
3) Is Ulu Perry able to participate in the spring, fall, and the season going forward?
4) Will Tulimasealii be re-instated for his final year of eligibility?
5) Will UH sign uniform/apparel deals with UA, Nike, Adidas, or Russell Athletics.
6) Who is the fastest player on the team? The strongest? The tallest? The heaviest? The best vertical? The best hands? The best hitter? The best route runner? The best vision? The best cover man? The quickest? The best ball skills? The best special teams player? Etc. Etc. It would be interesting?
Interesting Shoji-Greely-Mermea connect-the-dots relationship by ST.
I also just read ST’s recruit story with Rolo’s comments. I was pleased to see something personally interesting about each recruit from Rolo. NO generic “He’s got a lot of upside and we are happy to have him” quotes.
Why keep beating the dead horse? What makes you think Tulimasealii has any chance of being reinstated???
is it true ulu is not playing football any more. why anyone knows may be stephen knows but just can’t say any thing. may be we can go after fehoko.
8.
Yes that poor dead horse, leave it alone already.
He won’t get reinstated and he shouldn’t anyway. Everyone wish him luck and finally move on already
Will Kalen Hicks be back? Haven’t seen him in any of the pics. Maybe we need to put him on scholarship this upcoming season if he stays
Also is Stubblefield still rehabbing? Seems like forever since we last saw him
Is there a reason not all players are participating in the conditioning?
If you reside outside of Hawaii and have never indicated so (or have moved), please post you city/state here on the blog or email me. Updating my mainland & international Tsai-ko list at:
http://stevem.altervista.org/mainintpost.html
#6 there are probably no scholarships left for 2017. 23 of 25 announce on Wednesday and two used for last season recruits Brownholtz and Posa. I actual think someone has to grayshirt because one of the Australian recruits also had one of the 2017 schollies for him.
Too bad we only rate a B+ by you … on paper it’s the best class I’ve ever seen and I have been following the UH since the 1950s. Thirteen of our 23 recruits were rated 3-star prospects by someone. Never that many ever before. Two 3-star RBs, four 3-star WRs, a 3-star TE, two 3-star OLM, three 3-star DLM (KT was 3-star) and a 3-star OLB. That’s a haul for UH. If we were to do same with local talent this season, we would have to have signed 13 of top 15 local prospects … everyone except Tua (Alabama) and Isaac (Oregon).
@ #15, I thought Stephen mentioned somewhere they had used 3 scholies on ’16 players that counted against this years class. If that is so, it could mean that someone is going to have to grayshirt. Like you, but maybe not for as long, have followed UH football since the early ’60’s and I really feel something special about this class of recruits. Hats off to the coaches. The thing that impresses me is you hear these guys talk about why they want to be here and play for Rolo and UH. They sound really committed! Would I like to see more local players stay home, of course, but I’m also very happy with who we got!
15 and 16, Tago does not count for this years class because he was previously enrolled at UH. We did give another scholarship to the punter so that accounts for all 25 this year. No need for anyone to greyshirt at this time.
Stephen reported this morning that scholarships for Posa, Gaudion and Brownholtz count against this year’s class. If so, that totals 26. Rolo did say in the press conference that he wasn’t certain if one of Wednesday’s signees will play this season so he might be a grayshirt candidate.
It all starts with coaches and culture. We have those in place and are seeing the rise of the program as a result. A big mahalo to Coach Rolo and his staff for a job well done.
I hope that every recruit embraces the fact that they are now part of something very special. This is going to be fun!
GO WARRIORS!!!
MAYBE!!
ALOHA FROM LA!!
MANEO!!!
That kid Kade looks big and quick.
Coach Rolo mentioned a high grade point average
as a whole for all these new recruits. That’s why
they chose Hawaii—they are not dumb 🙂
If you wanted to know: SEC: The league made $584.2 million in 2015-16 and distributed an average
of $40.2 million to each school.
Nick Saban making money for the University
on his signing day announcement.
He puts a bottle of Coca-Cola up front and has
AT&T logos all over his back drop…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MzOlEdAxZA
Jeezy:
From what I understand, one of the fastest Warriors might be Ben Scruton.
Clyde:
Shoji picture was taken yesterday.
Shoji made an appearance at the news conference.
A lot of praise goes to Kefense Hynson for his persistent recruiting.
He was the big factor in linebacker Paul Scott flipping his commitment from Cal.
Ah, the one thing I learned about baseball: The Budweiser “Bullpen.” Now that’s a great fan interaction.
No “Budweiser Bullpen” for the beat writer!
This class has eleven 3-star players, but the class is ranked 8th in the MWC , per Scout.com. Chow’s 2013 class had only four 3-star players but was ranked 4th. In that class were St Juste, Kemp. Barker, Ewaliko,Henderson,Tulimasealii, Zwahlen, Kirkwood, Wa’a, Tupai, Manoa, and others.
Some seem to like athletes who are tagged with stars. Me I no care, I like see our guys make da odda guys see stars wen dey get hit! Den we count how many stars they seeing…lol
hand off to…got some space on the rightside….holy smacks!…he wen get one katoosh!…I wonda how many stars he seeing right now?!??
something like dat
not beating a dead horse, but what about ULU-PERRY?, does no one know anything? cannot believe ST does not know anything, what could cause not being able to reveal anything?
Privacy laws protect the individual. It could be any number of things, but given this is the start of the spring semester, I am guessing if there is a problem, it is most likely an academic issue.
islandman that’s a pretty good class under Chow. Certainly some were more recognized than others in this class. Many went on to be contributors this year. Keeping Kirkwood would have made a difference. He may have even been the go to guy over Kemp.
Looks like 247sports.com has UH recruiting ranked #5 in the MWC … http://247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=M-West
25. Great to hear. I was mentioning to a friend that Scruton looks really good physically in the pics and his physique is developing. Might be a big steal considering he’s already making contributions as a FR.
Forget the stars and rankings of this recruiting class for a moment, and rejoice in the character of the young men who have pledged to become Warriors. This video gives you reason to pause and appreciate these student-athletes, and one player in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRylp4dNRCg
Nice find Clyde. Oneseason that 247 ranking makes a lot more sense. Thanks for finding that.
Agree nice find. A good reminder that these kids are doing good things on and off the field
Star ratings don’t mean much except on paper. Winning the “on paper” rankings does not mean you win the “on the field” war. What it indicates is the overall ability of the UH to compete for recognized talent. I suspect the kids from Samoa and JCs all are better athletes than what they are recognized as. Higher star ratings don’t ensure anything … back in the ’70s, we recruited a Parade Magazine (top 40 in country) offensive lineman who was only interested in the beach. Later we also recruited a Parade Magazine running back who would have been a dominant star in not for an injury during his freshman year that haunted him from that point on … he would have been considered an all-time great and likely would have been a high NFL pick. So on an individual basis stars don’t guarantee anything, but on a class wide basis they tell you if you are getting more recognized talent.
#6 Derek, you gotta go watch practice in the Spring and Fall and buy tickets, and make your own conclusions. Who would answer questions that tend to “troll” and divide us?
Get those tickets now! Gonna be a great year-on a somber note UH great Bill Massey has passed. Apparently this occurred in Aug. 2016. Bill was part of a great backfield duo including Larry Sherrer in the late 60’s early 70’s. Rest In Peace “Mass”
That is sad news about Bill Massey. I recall watching him run. It was in the days when runners took on would be tacklers as opposed to avoiding them (like Jim Brown, Matt Snell, Jim Taylor, etc. we’re doing in the NFL). It was almost fun watching the blow up s at the end of his runs.
my math tells me this:
3 blueshirts/pushforwards – Brownholtz, Gaudion and Posa
5 mid year enrollees – Ford, Armstrong-Brown, Naotala, Jay Dominique, Rasmussen
17 signed LOI – Vanterpool, Kipper, Maama, Graves, Mermea, Russell, Taala, Scott, Pavihi, Greeley, Stallworth, Mullen, Dalton, Francisco, McLean, Keliiliki and Reed
thats 25 total initials for the 2017 class. Tago should not count because he already received an initial 3 years ago.
i do think we will greyshirt 1 or 2 players, which could open up a couple more slots for 2017. we can also blueshirt/pushforward kids if we want.
Zeno Choi will go on scholarship in August is my guess, he will be in school for 2 years then and wont count as an initial scholarship.
Buffo back then we played injured not just hurt-that’s the way it was. Massey would get a series of injections before the game in order to play, neck, sternum etc. Still recall him laying on the table “gettin ready” to play. Great guy great teammate-
^ side point, none of the listed can be blueshirts/pushforwards to 2018. it will have to be an “unrecruited” player who did not take an OV or have an in home w Coach Rolo.
I have an inkling of whom will be asked to greyshirt.
I remember Bill Massey. A tough runner no doubt.
I had some classes with him. He was truly a gentleman and a class act.
Rest In Peace Warrior.
Last thing on Bill Massey-still occupys number 10 spot all time rushing-1898 rushing yds for career
37 mahalo for that awesome video. looks like we got lakalaka clone in hekili keliiliki….. maybe Gaylord can pass on the torch to braddah kekoa next year?
running back Reed video highlight is a Wow-Wow-Pow.
This kid is definitely NFL.
And Rolo’s got him
🙂
Don’t want to jinx the kid, nor do I want to over hype, but Keliiliki reminds me of a Kamryn Pettway/Ryan Nall type runner. Maybe even a Bo Scarbourgh with some development and experience. Of course only time will tell…
#37 – Clyde – thank so much for sharing the link! Great story, Hekili comes from a great family! Maybe Kekoa can watch his brother at Aloha Stadium in person some day and be an honorary captain.
Hekili’s running style reminds me of Junior Lopati before his injury.
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