Captains’ choice
In a mash-up of team captains and leadership council, the Rainbow Warriors now have a group of leaders known collectively as the captains’ council. They were selected in a voting by their teammates. Here’s this year’s captains’ council:
Quarterback — Taylor Graham
Running backs — Joey Iosefa and Aofaga Wily
Receivers — Chris Gant and Scott Harding
Tight end — Craig Cofer
Offensive line — Ben Clarke
Defensive ends — Beau Yap and Tavita Woodard
Defensive tackles — Siasau Matagiese and Kennedy Tulimasealii
Linebackers — Brenden Daley and Kamalani Alo
Safeties — John Hardy-Tuliau and Charles Clay
Cornerback — Ne’Quan Phillips
Specialist — Tyler Hadden
* * * * *
Jack Lord’s McGarrett had the right idea. Never let a person of interest leave the 50th state.
Defensive end Naim Mustafaa was all set to join the Rainbow Warriors. He was here, he made a pledge to the UH coaches, he signed papers, he was ready for training camp and then … well, somehow his application to UH wasn’t approved quickly enough. Rather than wait around, he went back to his family home in Georgia. And, well, it appears he now is heading to Miami.
It’s a shame because he sought Hawaii, paid his own way out here, and had good enough grades where transferring should not have been an issue.
* * * * *
The plans are in the works for Keelan Ewaliko to move from wideout to safety today. It’s another experiment in search of positions for incoming freshmen.
Dejon Allen made the move back to defense yesterday after spending two days as an offensive guard.
First
GOOD MORNING HAWAII!
Polynesian fever in the Admissions Office?
Aloha all..and this what I tell my bruddhas who have experienced a cheating women” it’s not you, did not matter what you actually did….she was going to cheat on whomever was before her…” Naim, bruddha you one rolling stone…
Upper campus strikes again?
Sad they have yet to figure it out.
Top 5, too!
Not sure if it’s upper or lower, but apparently Dole Street is pretty wide.
I think that the Coaches should try Keelan Ewaliko at Wildcat. He needs to be touching the ball.
All I know is he was here, ready for training camp and then the lights went out in Georgia. (Kids, that’s a song from 1972.)
Who knows how Mustafaa would have panned out but the lack of urgency to process paperwork makes Hawaii look out of touch once again to prospective recruits…straight dumb!
He’ll probably leave Miami too.
Way to go upper campus! That’s how we support the Warriors! 👿
Good luck to Naim!
A Council of Warrior Chiefs! Love it. Nice selections!
GO WARRIORS!!!
True, you never know how these things would have gone. It is difficult when you have to wait a year. But, still, he was in Hawaii. On his own dime.
We could o’ been a contender…We could o’ been somebody….
So much foolishness stands in the way of the Athletics department’s hope for success. It’s disheartening.
Glad Dejon was moved back to defense. I think that’s where the games will be won this year, so we need as many able and capable players on rotation to keep the DL fresh for the 4th quarter.
Keelan moved to safety? I like the move. We definitely have a need for speed at the backend. Plus he’s strong for his size. With the competition at WR and QB this is the quickest way, besides special team kick coverage, to get on the field.
ST,
Was it not possible for UH to expedite the application process for him? Does Chow have no pull to do something like that?
Just don’t understand why they would take there time on someone had been indecisive in the past. Oh well. I’d say that’s a big loss for the team don’t you think.
Chow needs an assistant to stay on top of things like this.
Thank you Naim Mustafaa for trying.
All of our coaches lose a few good players due to snafu’s in admissions. Didn’t Mack lose a couple of outstanding Olinemen that way? Players that could have made a difference in his last two years of coaching?
The semester starts on the 26th. There are probably hundreds of prospective students trying to be admitted. Don’t wait until the last minute to try and get into school.
Shouldn’t Keith Uperesa who is the Director of Player Personnel be the guy in the lead of keeping Naim Mustafaa on track to get into school?
last call for Reno road game tix; deadline of Aug. 12. $32
50 yd line tix at UNLV $55 (UH ticket office price $60)
Join our group of 175 Hawaii fans.
Email me: tomkitaguchi@yahoo.com
What’s flakier than a Zippy’s Apple Napple?
Since directing such things toward student athletes are frowned upon, I will leave the answer up to the imagination of our bloggers.
My feeling is that Miami put on a full-court press on Mustafaa. The delay in processing his application is just an “excuse” for him to leave Hawaii.
It would have been terrific if he stayed. But it seems that this young man just cannot put down roots long enough for it to take hold. I hope he finds a good place at Miami (I still say Hawaii would have been a much better fit). I feel that he could have gotten a very good education here for what his post football playing days were thought to have been one of his reasons for the island selection. Time will tell.
Maybe Mr. Uperesa can shed some light on the matter.
oy ve!
Should UH admissions be quicker about processing things? Not sure but my guess would be yes.
Should they hurry things up because he is a highly prized athlete? Aboslutely not. He is no more special than any other prospective student.
Dice we now have a council of Chiefs; shouldn’t we have a Talking Chief.
Like John Waihee or anyone that can mumble?
Dice=Since
Here we had a possible big name player to help the football program & possibly help ticket sales & upper campus blows it. UH needs to get out of a financial hole & we can use any help we can get & football is our biggest money maker in sports, sad.
I’m with NotNasti on this one. He mighty have even had a change of heart after arriving and realizing how far he was away from home. Georgia to Florida is not so much and with Miami probably in his ear 24-7 … We’ll see if he has it in him to stick at Miami when the competition starts.
iwwthm
bull.
you don’t think al noga helped bring revenue into the school and state when he was a student.
this is another wtf moment.
football brings revenue into the school in more ways than people know. when was the last time the UH sold a shirt with the state seal as the logo? not in the last 10 years.
football recruits are not any other prospective student. if you haven’t noticed, practice starts before the school semester. the students playing fall sports should be given front of the line service regarding admissions.
And that’s a fine mess we are in, Ollie!!! We thought we had a 4 star DE. But here comes, Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friend”. And then here’s Denny Green “we are what we think we are.” Slow! My grandma is slow. The admissions people are slow! May the admissions people need some turbo boosting. Maybe, tape a cheetah to their backs.!!! So ST, do you think we can beat USC. Oh, oh, Herman Edwards is talking to the players “Hello! You play to win the game! So, Coach Mora, “do you think you can make it to a bowl game?” “Bowl game? Are you kidding me! Bowl game? Why, we might not win another game. Bowl game? You guys make me sick.” Any thing to add, Coach Chow? Well, I’m past 65, I’m a man. I’m a senior citizen. I collect Social Security. I don’t like to run anymore, so I guess we’ll pass a lot more this year. Have a good day!
Good morning Tsaikos!
Nice lineup of captains. Speaks to the leadership qualities of Chow’s recruits like NP, a soph and KT, a true frosh.
If anyone cares, things are looking up for Warrior Volleyball. Stay tuned for more news.
BTW, the MVB golf tournament will be held on 9/12 at Olomana GC. Proceeds will go towards funding the team’s trip to LA for a tournament in early November (among other things). Register online at:
http://uhalumni.org/s/1220/uhfTemplate/event.aspx?sid=1220&gid=1&pgid=716
gobows,
if that’s your opinion thats fine, but I am glad the UH doesn’t share the same vision as you. if i had to choose who to favor, the football player that brings in revenue or the future doctor who is going to operate on your prostate…well, one is a game the other will determine whether you are going to have to wear diapers the rest of your life.
again, he is no more or less special than any other student.
This is a place of higher LEARNING before anything else. Don’t forget that.
Should the process for admissions be quicker? Maybe, I don’t know what it’s like elsewhere. But if so, it should be for ALL students who apply.
If he signed papers, does that make him ineligible if he transfers? Probably not because he school didn’t start yet and he didn’t practice either. Just asking.
And if you want to talk about revenue, lets compare the revenue football or the entire athletics program brings in 10 years next to just research grants alone in one year.
I don’t even need to mention tuition/fees that students pay and state subs.
Don’t know what happened on processing his papers, but one thing for sure is that Naim is a very impatient person – good or bad? – depends where you sit (no pun intended)
it does raise questions about the efficiency of those in charge at UH and again brings out bad memories of past events – it seems that whomever felt no urgency in getting the job done
so much talent, but here today, gone to —————-
Is it at all possible that Oklahoma State dragged their feet on sending over his transcripts?
“wasn’t approved quickly enough”. Was he ever approved?
ST:
your statement about UH not being quick enough – are you saying that his application was eventually approved, but Naim had already left Hawaii?
if he left before being accepted and he signed papers with UHAD – is he bound to UH and must wait a year before playing for Maimi or any other school? such as a commit who signed LOI?, has not yet been accepted by UH, and has paid no tuition.
also, if another school came hunting him down, is that acceptable by NCAA standards? does UH have a legal course of action if this is so?
or, did Norm Chow agree to tear up his papers and agree to let him go?
personally, I would have loved to see Naim play for UH, but dreams are just that, dreams!
ok, al, we are still waiting for the “holy grail”?
really. someone that inspires to be a doctor would be the last one trying to get into college.
dont want a lame brain, late to enroll in school doctor practicing on me.
btw, i’ve had to work with some engineers that were UH graduates, and they often times wasted money with their bone headed decisions. thats your tax money going to waste.
i think it was his high school transcripts.
why does it seems that upper campus has to butt heads with the athletic department. no freakin aloha.
grant money didn’t pay for the student center upgrade.
Good morning everyone!
Shame about Mustafaa. Paperwork approval may be slow, but seems he is moving faster than real life. Four stars must be really fast.
with the 2013 season yet to start, wonder how effective Zwahalen will be when he returns in 2015?
will he be spreading the word electronically while sitting somewhere in the USA? or pound the turf in a foreign country?
will he have time to keep in shape running, lifting, throwing, etc?
guess the first example is whenever the next UH recruit who went on a mission returns to UH.
gobows #43~ are you referring to Mustafaa? I understood that he wanted to get into the travel industry but maybe a doctor too. Doctor of travel?
Hawaii lost a 4 Star DE because somebody in the Administration side of the house was to slow or moving on “Island Time” to get it done promptly. And there is another reason why Hawaii has a hard time getting ahead as a Football program. Don’t ask them to build something that would take a decade or two to complete, as we all know already! No can!
gobows #43:
I also believe “grant $$$” are very restrictive is usage and cannot be used to up grade or build a student center or any other building on campus.
You make good points IWTHM, but consider – do you suppose Miami will drag its heels in getting him processed? If we wanna play with the big guys, we need to do like they do.
Further, what if he were a student with exceptional talent in an area of academia, capable of bringing grants etc. to the school someday? Finally, all the other students who are being processed likely did not have his urgency in gaining admissions. He was a golden opportunity, a potential source of enhanced revenue for UH, and could have helped the Warriors a lot.
The super conferences are coming soon. Do we want to be left out and risk becoming irrelevant as a football school, thereby jeopardizing all other UH sports? If we don’t want to be left out, we need to act with a sense of urgency in certain matters.
Maybe he is a little impatient or flaky. We’ll never know. And he did pay his own way to be here, and nothing indicates sincerity like spending your own money to be a Warrior.
That being said, I still love our current crop of DEs. They have the will, the skill and the heart to get it done.
GO WARRIORS!!!
gobows,
i don’t know what your comments on the doctor thing even mean so I wont address that.
as for the engineers, you think we should get rid of the engineering school or improve it? If the later, will UHAD pay for those improvements with the revenue they are generating or will it most likely come from tuition and state subsidies?
If he enrolled at OSU and was admitted and was a student, he would still need transcripts or some documentation from OSU. Check the UH admissions forms if you don’t believe.
Last time I checked the Upper Campus that has no freakin Aloha just eliminated the UHAD’s debt.
Did UHAD revenue pay for the student center upgrades?
Good morning Tsaikos!!!
Hope all is well!!!
Sorry to hear about Naim, but it is what it is. Just need to deal with it and move on.
“Hello, admissions office.”
“HI this is coach_________ with the football team. Who can I speak to about expediting the the admission process for one of my players?”
A day later…..
“Hi this is coach__________, I spoke to you yesterday about __________’s admission. Just wanted to check if you were able to speed things up. We start practicing in a couple of days.”
Re: College of Engineering:
UH College of Engineering has had the top Electrical Engineering student in the nation 4 times since 2001. That’s tops in the nation, while going up against students from MIT, Stanford, Cal, Carnegie Mellon, etc. Larry Martin, a 2011 graduate, was named the winner of the Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Award. Martin, who graduated with his BS in electrical engineering from UH Manoa in Fall 2011, was named the winner of the award by Eta Kappa Nu, the national electrical engineering society, based on his achievements as an undergraduate student.
Not too shabby huh? http://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=5395
It’s very unfortunate that Naim wasn’t admitted in time. He would have beena forre on the sont team this yesr and a force in the MWC next yesr. But anytime you apply to school this late you’re taking a big chance. I agree with IWWTHM, the processneeds to be done faster for all students.
Ewaliko reminds me of a player who played for Hawaii in the late 70’s early 80’s and played QB in high school and then switching to safety in college and went on to play with the Atlanta Falcons.
The phrase “Hawaiian time” is when things are done quickly at UH. The institutional mindset is to put things off. Until they want you to pay for classes.
CIP projects are paid for by CIP money–go bonds, sp bonds, federal grants etc.
What I was trying to reference to was the false impression that UHAD is some kind of cashcow. Most colleges (even BCS ones) are in the red. Even if it were the cashcow that a Bama may be, that money is spent on athletics, as it rightfully should.
I’m not advocating we forget about athletics. Hey, I’ve been supporting UH athletics even before I knew I care about UH athletics. Athletics is important part of a larger picture. I’m not nor have I ever dismissed that idea.
I’m simply stating that we need to look at the big picture–which is, if we want to be more effecient, we should do it across the board so it benefits ALL students with ALL their potential. If not, you are asking the same people you are screaming at about being ineffecient and incompetent to make a subjective decision on who is or isn’t worthy of an expedited process.
Percent of Applicants Admitted: 40%
The irony or rather the odd thing about this whole situation is that the U of Miami is a much more difficult school to obtain admission from an academic perspective. I have provided from last years 2012 class the average test scores for the two schools, Miami is the first one listed:
GPA, SAT and ACT graph for Miami
What Are Your Chances? (from Cappex.com)
Test Scores — 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 600 / 700
SAT Math: 630 / 720
SAT Writing: 590 / 690
What these SAT numbers mean
Top Florida college SAT score comparison
SAT comparison chart for the ACC
ACT Composite: 28 / 32
ACT English: 28 / 34
ACT Math: 27 / 32
Admissions Data (2012):
Percent of Applicants Admitted: 78%
What Are Your Chances? (from Cappex.com)
GPA, SAT and ACT graph for the University of Hawaii
Test Scores — 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 480 / 580
SAT Math: 500 / 600
SAT Writing: 470 / 560
What these SAT numbers mean
WAC SAT comparison chart
ACT Composite: 21 / 26
ACT English: 20 / 26
ACT Math: 21 / 26
Something is very odd about this situation…..
We lost out on a good prospect. Live and learn. Time to move on. Work with what we have. We have good players. Do we have good coaches?
What’s done is done – Mustafa’s aint here. Focus on the task at hand – get ready to beat (not just show up) for USC. Work on the plan to take away USC’s “go to” guy #9 (M. Lee). Ewaliko can play big role in this.
Miami will be the fourth school that Naim has pledged to attend or has attended in the last few months. I think that he has a difficult time in making up his mind.
ST announced Naim’s intent to attend UH on July 30th. Yesterday would have been only the sixth working day since the 30th. We don’t know if he submitted a complete application packet or fulfilled all requirements. But it’s been only a week plus since he his “commitment”.
But his yoyo journey between schools indicates that he cannot make up his mind. Miami may not be the last school this year that he will go to.
Yes, University of Miami is a more selective school to get into…. unless you’re an athlete for a big money sport. I agree with IWTHM. It’s unfortunate that Mustafaa wasn’t admitted in time before miami snatched him up, but I don’t think admissions is required to just drop everything and approve mustafaa just because he’s a football player (not to mention that miami was probably wooing him pretty hard all throughout the UH recruiting process). The university is much bigger than UH football.
Does anybody know if his application process was taking significantly longer than the normal student because someone was asleep at the switch? If not, then what are we complaining about? It sucks but it is what it is.
State Senate Prez: Hey MRC how come my son hasn’t heard back on his law school application? What’s wrong? How UH is so slow?
UH Prez: I checked. He never applied.
Senate Prez: Oops.
Great day at practice today
About 50+ diehard fans r here
#33 just made interception
I can’t speak for the current administration, but back in the day, well, my day, athletes had specific staff and admission counselors assigned to you.
#33 made another interception just now
Congrats UH Administration for screwing up once again!!!! Looks like the football team lost a great prospect. You guys should be fired for being so incompetent.
Based in Ferd’s column yesterday, seems like the in-house attorneys for coaches contracts should also be fired. When the language is too weak to fire a coach for cause??? What’s up with that.
upper campus used athletic department revenue to pay off the accumulated debt. no real favor there.
It’s a dark day when some hint towards U of Miami’s athletics program as being what Hawaii should aspire to be like. SMH. (-_-)
#63
only in hawaii
#71 gobows: I guess it’s just a matter of what we’re prioritizing in the university. Yes, mustafaa probably would’ve been the best defensive end recruit to ever come to UH (how he pans out while in UH, we don’t know, but we’re assuming his upside is higher than mauna kea, at least in relation to this program), but we’re missing some information. Did he complete his application packet in time? Did all his transcripts get sent in on time? Is 6 working days REALLY all that unreasonable of a wait when regular students can wait for a month or more? Assuming he had all his paperwork in order, what was the status of his application during the process?
What’s the procedure on the books for admissions for this kind of application anyway? etc etc.
I can say from experience that while most universities do not have a separate admission process for athletes, they (athletic department) usually do have direct access to admissions office and staff to communicate specific features of a particular person, e.g timing, expediting, …etc
If the Chancellor doesn’t ask the BOR for the debt forgiveness and the BOR doesn’t agree, the debt isn’t forgiven.
I don’t see how Upper Campus didn’t show at least a taste of Aloha to UHAD on this one.
Last time I checked, Upper Campus fought for CIP money to match funds for Ching Complex, $ for the facilities upgrades etc. If Upper Campus didn’t support these projects, it would have gone now here.
Who did he intercept?
#72,
And unless someone within admissions wants to violate ferpa and come out and tell us, no one but Naim knows what really went on.
Oh boy admin. get on the ball hold on tight, don’t drop it! We’re going to be left out come super conferences time! Get up to SPEED, we can’t lose players of that caliber!
Good and they shouldn’t.
We already see the tunnel vision and wreckless nature of the way certain conferences are wanting to break away from the NCAA its easy to see how having a seperate admission office for athletes only could lead to further corruption and bastardization of the “amature” S-T-U-D-E-N-T athlete and all it ONCE stood for.
as more and more “news” or information leaks out of the “pineapple castle”, we tax payers must be really scratching our heads, no scratch too hard or get bolohead, wondering why – why this happen – why this happen – why this happen.
OK, if you no pay me $1 million I going sue you – oh, sorry, my attorney wen jump the gun and I like take my letter back – oh, neva mind cause the BOR went give me tenured position at $295,000/year – oh, now who I going get the extra $6,000 to pay for my luxury condo in Waikiki – oh, if you can do it at $295,000 why you no can do it at $415,000?
if the BOR continues to be a puppet for the UH-Manoa Pres instead of being our “counter-punch”, like they are SUPPOSED TO DO, then us tax payers are stuck, again, again, again.
for sure, I’ll never see the changes as I getting near my male average age on this earth – oh, I just might to be the exception and live to be 100 and all in good health to take $$$ away from Vegas casino!!!!!!! happy, happy happy days ahead!!!!!!!!!
ok, old man wake up you dreaming too hard.
One week is too long to get processed?? Sounds more like an excuse to me, as that same time frame was obviously used to get the Miami application submitted and processed. Past history shows that firm commitment doesn’t show up as a strong indicator in this case.
Whatevers…we should only want guys here who really want to be here….movin’ on….
Thankfully football is a team sport. One person does not make a team. Even the much heralded Colt Brennan needed other great players around him to be “Colt Brennan”. Other players will step up. Two of my favorite players to ever play at the University of Hawaii were no-star players. Gary Allen and Chad Owens. Unrecruited, no-star, no respect. Hawaii can be a force to be reckoned with by simply having the right attitide, working hard, and playing with passion. We have defensive ends ready to step up, and more will come next season. With all due respect to Mr. Mustafaa, the players that are still here want to be here. When the going gets tough, when you look at the person next to you, you want to see someone who is committed to success. Committed to paying the price. No matter how many stars they have next to their name.
By the way, pardon the lack of proper grammar. Never used to eat those kinds of crackers.
78-You make valid points, but what I referring to is that there needs to be a pragmatic and effective communication between varying entities with an university. That does not compromise and/or dilute the academic mission of the entity. I am with one of the most selective entities in the nation, but they (athletic dept) still have an open dialogue with the admissions office for specific situations. In fact, while they do have any athletic scholarships of any kind, they won a national championship this past year against a host of scholarship schools.
I meant to say that the school I am associated with has NO scholarships, but won a DIV1 championship.
iwwthm #74:
that is a good? or statement? – previous UHAD’s did ask for the athletic department deficit forgiveness and got no where with the BOR
yet, with Apple and Jay, it went through “trouble waters”, get it, smoothly and approval – it is said that a very good plan was submitted to encourage the BOR to approve their request
anyone on this blog know the intimate details of this plan? for sure, regardless of what Ben Jay says, and his efforts to reduce ticket prices to encourage sales he will end up with a million + $ deficit for 2013-14 – btw, anyone has knowledge how this ticket package sales are going? – thought I heard a comment on KITV that it was not selling well.
yet, in our meeting with him he refused to listen to a suggestion to lower ticket prices in selected upper level seats saying that this will encourage fans to move into the “prime package” seats and upset regular paying fans – will his current plan stop fans from moving “up”? – actually down – oh, his other comment was then premium ticket fans can go and buy cheap seats and move into the “prime” areas – and he was adamant about not selling yellow section seats for $10 or $15 – guess his mentality is half a plane load at regular price is better that one filled with 50% paying fares
sorry for all the rambling, but I just heard Rambling Rose by Nat King Cole btw, did you know that he is or was one of only 3 Americans who had perfect pitch – another was a white male singer from the 50s – 60’s, darn forgot his name, but he would always brag that he was one of the 3 – only reason I know that Nat King Cole was one because this guy mentioned his name as another.
NOTSPORTSINQUIRY – I need to have about 20 – 25 hours of training/help on my Apple/Mac equipment IN MY OFFICE – not at the Apple Store. If you have any recommendations, please e-mail me the name & contact information – swood at boku dot com. Yes, I can pay for the training.
COMMERCIAL NAMING RIGHTS: A small group of decision-makers – both elected & appointed – are meeting before the official NCAA sports season kicks off to address the issue at UH. Note that the 2013 Final Four for women’s volleyball in December will be held in the Alaska Airlines Arena on the campus of the University of Washington.
Last pass of the day from #8 Graham to #33 Hardy-Tuliau 2nd of the day
Practice ended with defense mob in Hardy
Wasn’t here but he had one yesterday too
done gone it – as I was reading my last post the name Mel Thome jumped into my head as the person with perfect pitch – not baseball, but musical – his most favorite saying was how piano tuners would use his “pitch” to tune pianos.
#85:
to what issue at UH do you refer? is there a problem? will UH be dinged again? what “name” is being discussed?
is this worst than Oregon paying a recruiting service to secure commitments from high school seniors and then getting a light tap on the hand? no wonder the BCS schools are in open session laughing at the NCAA.
say, if the big 5 BCS conferences jump ship and form their own league, will they be bound by NCAA rules/regs? reading between the lines the answer is NO.
A-House,
Its in reference to UH being able to sell naming rights for athletic facilities.
A- house #84,
I don’t know what the relationship between lower and upper was in the past. They may not have enjoyed beers together on a regular basis. However, whatever the relationship that Jay has with Apple, it seems to be working in UHAD’s favor, for the time being anyway.
One recruiting service already has Naim at the Univ of Miami.
http://247sports.com/Player/Naim-Mustafaa-17892
**POOOF***
goes Mustafaa.
My goodness that was fast.
BIK
I guess I finally woke up from “The Dream”……Dang It.
Let’s Go Bows………….
You might say we mustafaa been dreaming, eh?
WE MESSED UP…Plain and simple…No sense on crying over spilt milk, but we gotta fix this problem of admissions.
I don’t think we can question the “sincerity”of Naim’s intentions, as he flew here with his Grandma “on his own dime”, which is something not any student or family can afford. We’re talking approximately $3K.
It would seem that someone on the UH athletic staff should have been following-up on this situation before the kid had to return home…
Oh well, no sense in speculating or grumbing…It happened “again” and we lost another athlete that wanted to be a Warrior. Who can forget the New Zealand kid that wanted to play for us, but got the “runaround” from UH…He eventually played for Alabama and was part of a national championship…
By the way, I think Naim is the “second” recruit of recent vintage that we’ve lost to Miami in teh 9th hour…I believe the last one was a defensive or offensive lineman…
MIH: That’s funny, but I’m not in the laughing mood right now.
Is six working days REALLY that long and a sign of a broken admissions process?
I’m skeptical.
My gut feeling is that mustafaa would’ve left regardless. It’s not like miami just all of a sudden jumped on the scene with a scholarship in hand.
A-House. Mel Torme – brilliant. Love him!
OK… I’m bringing kulolo to the first T-Gate of the season.
So- Rainbowtique has a bunch of new stuff… but still waiting to see the awesome RAINBOW logo appear somewhere – new or retro…
GO, RAINBOW WARRIORS!
100
oh well.
A few years ago, I remember we lost a basketball recruit because he saw the size of our roaches in Hawaii. Maybe Naim left because of da kaka roach.
Hey IT,
You should just change your screen name. Hopefully your stalker won’t recognize your new handle…
Maybe he saw the locker room and the pathetic
living condition in the dance studio for summer
practice.
Great Afternoon All!
Does anyone else think that people in the Admissions Office also read the morning paper…that has been recently filled with stories about an Assistant FB Coach landing a form of “golden parachute”?
Admissions: Sure, leave the paperwork for your prized recruit right here. We’ll get right on it, Coach.
😈
…and then again, lotsa stuff happens on that FL/GA line
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmZ9xRO7M9M
Congratulations to the Council Members.
How was practice today?
Any word on any “concussed” Receivers coming back yet?
We can blame admissions all we want for not moving as fast as we want them to. But in all reality, Naim could have still been here had he chosen to simply be patient. If Hawaii was the place, Hawaii was STILL going to be the place even if it took a few extra days to get admitted. Didn’t we all read that he was a qualifier and an excellent student? Admission should have been no problem right? Through my humble analysis, it simply appears that Naim needs some kokua on how to stay true to your decisions.
BIK
#111,
Not knowing exactly happened, my guess would be exactly this. Again, just a guess.
Don’t know any of the facts on any aspect of the mystery de’s change in direction so that’s that for me. One snap and clear. What’s his naim? Who dat? Aloha!
Go Rainbow Warriors!
BEAT USC!!!!!!!
Too bad about Mustafaa…
Maybe Mustafaa was motivated by Warren Sapp’s Hall of Fame story? Good luck in life, young man. You will probably do great things at Miami, but you would have done great things here too. Can’t fault a person for choosing his own destiny.
Not much good to blame anyone at this point. If someone really, really, really, wanted to be here, they would be here. It seems to me that he was applying to Miami at the same time as UH.
We have a lot of talent regardless and getting better every year. We must support the boys who have fully committed to Hawaii.
Don’t be too disappointed. Mustafaa was all sprinkles on the icing on the cake. Wasn’t even on the radar two weeks ago. This coming year will hopefully convince other 4 star recruits that Hawaii is a program that will coach them to their fullest potential.
At least we now know how to spell Naim Mustafaa.
And NFL preseason is on today. The drought is over, fellas.
Some players end up transferring from one school to another. During the Larry Price era there was a big offensive lineman from Ohio State that received some write ups in the local press. After a couple of days in fall camp this player packed his bags and returned to the mainland. He later resurfaced at Nebraska, but I don’t know if he ever played much there.
During the June Jones era there was a transfer from the AFA prep school (not Kealoha Pilares) who was here for less than 24 hours. The player arrived at UH, checked into his dorm, took the team’s physical conditioning test (which he failed), and was on the next plane back to the mainland the next morning. He reportedly transferred to Colorado State, but never played there.
Sometimes the grass in not always greener on the other side. Transferring works out for some, but not for all.
ZI can’t believe some of you saying that Niam needed to be more patient. He’s been living in a hotel for over a week, on his own dime and the UH Administration can’t tell him if he’s admitted or not???
If a decision was made he would have been in the dance studio with almost a week of practice under his belt and bonding with his teammates.
Niam needed to make a decision since UH couldnt get it done. Our lost is Miami’s gain. UH doesn’t get 4 star players often and I believe he would have helped our team. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
Ninahz!
Naim is flip flopping so much Miami won’t be the last stop I feel. This is a confused young man.
#118,
It aint UH’s problem that he decided to fly over and stay in a hotel before being granted admission. That was a decision he made on his own.
#121, if not a hotel where would be stay with his Grandmother? Maybe camp on the beach with the homeless?
As ST said previously, He and Grandmother paid their own way to come and check it out. He made a quick decision but UH Administration could not do the same. After a few days, the expense of living in a hotel piles up. That’s my beef.
You go to this restaurant you are interested in trying without a reservation and get put on a waiting list. They can’t tell you right now if you are going to be seated but they say there is a chance.
You wait and wait and finally last seating has come and gone.
You are pissed. Well, no one promised you that you could eat there and no one forced you to wait there.
We’ll get more like him if we have a good season this year.
#123,
Big difference waiting 4 hours verses waiting almost 2 weeks.
I know there will be doubters out there.. but I have it from a VERY reliable source that his application was processed and accepted VERY quickly and he was admitted without any problems.. Sounds like something for Keoki Kerr to look into! lol
#125,
I don’t think anyone in the Admissions office told him to fly over to Hawaii and stay here while they process his application. If they did, they need to find a new job.
Maybe he should have visited a few days later. Maybe he should have visited the campus after he got admitted since he could still pull out if he didn’t like it.
In any event a lack of planning on his part does not constitute an emergency on the part of UH.
Seeing some of the comments on here today makes me wonder how people can wonder where the sense of entitlement with today’s college football prospects is coming from?
The people that ask why some of these kids feel like they should be catered to makes me laugh.. the answer is all around.
😆 😆 😆
We’ll have super conferences soon enough that will have no regard to academic standings and admission requirements for incoming football student athletes to futher the gap between the haves and have-nots and the only people we have to blame for it if we are left out really is ourselves.
Place things and individuals on a high enough pedestal and sooner or later you will bump into the structures YOU created only to have those things fall and split your head wide open.
Someone stated it clearly. Those young men who chose to come, and stayed, and saw our locker rooms, and knew our record (2012), and met our coaches stayed.
They went on to participate in a difficult off season conditioning program.
They are the focus of our attention and support. Those who choose not to stay and represent the 808, well, that’s their decision. We can only give our ardent support for those who choose to be here.
Let the season commence!
Probably really out of the loop….but, anyone heard anything on Tigi Hill?
Anyone know what time practice starts up tomorrow?
I bet someone does!
Football started last week. School starts the 26th. Why shouldn’t they push an athlete up to get him in time for his sport?
Chow Is Pau! can’t even get a 4 star DE into the school!
#126
Thank you very much for providing your inside information. But according to ST, it appears that his admission was not approved.
First, I think admissions did a favor by processing his application. It’s way past the application deadline for a regular student. You can’t participate in training camp if you’re not admitted into school. When camp started, he had not been admitted. He lives in Georgia. He can’t afford to wait here so he went home. In hindsight, would it better to come out here after being approved. I don’t know what his time frame was. Oh, well.
An 18 y/o sits in a hotel room waiting for a decision. A day becomes two day, then three… a week, an eternity for an 18 y/o. The bill keeps piling up with no end in sight. What are you going to do? What is he going to do?
UH Admins talk a good story about getting to the next level. With the current state of Division 1 in the flux it is and with UH about to go over the cliff and be left behind, you’d think they would pull out the stops to get the kind of players and coaches they need to pull off the miracle they need. Especially one that comes to you on his own two feet. Not asking that they break the rules and let in someone who doesn’t quality. Just asking that they work their butts off a little to see if he does qualify. BUT NO, UH has to drag their union okole and we lose a golden goose. Another example of HGEA working hard for you… Yeah, right.
How is UH going to compete with the Pro Style/Set sitting on their hands like that?
~ OH…(sing along) We Mustafaa been dreaming…. la da di dah…. (Okay I’m done whining. Mahalo! Hope everyone is having a great day!)
UH wants our support but they won’t support their own. This is how you lose fans.
🙂
The irony of the (talk of) super conferences is that not only do they produce the top football programs, but they are very good academic schools; some of the best in the nation. Hard combination to argue against.
#130, thank you for the update ST!
#131 MIH, I couldn’t have said it any better. Good job!
PM – only SOME of the BCS schools are good academic schools. Don’t sell UH short, it has good and even some highly regarded programs.
coach messed up or else he could of gone to watch the first day of camp saw the team and said oh hell no im outta here.
Hmmmm…according to this article, Mustafaa claiming coming to Hawaii was a rumor that wasn’t true
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/college-recruiting/2013/aug/08/ex-uga-football-commit-play-miami/
Whatevaz…BEAT USC!!!
Kinda funny that Mustafaa now refuting ever wanting to come to Hawaii.
“Mustafaa confirmed that he reported to Miami earlier this week, but declined to comment further. He did, however, refute published reports that said he told Hawaii coaches last month that he would be coming there. “The Hawaii rumor wasn’t true,” Mustafaa said.”
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/college-recruiting/2013/aug/08/ex-uga-football-commit-play-miami/
So throwing the admissions department under the bus was premature.
Hey Otto.. Your post made my day!!! Gotta love it!!!
Or his tee’d … take your pick. It’s not like he got a free ride here.
This is actually becoming hilarious
Tigi Hill?
Re: Mustafaa – Kinda like Rick Pitino: “I was never at Hawaii.”
Da Nile isn’t just a river in Egypt.
MadeinHawaii & Warrior Dave…I agree with your frustration, if upper campus was dragging their butts, but ST clarified. Mustafaa went home to Georgia. He wasn’t waiting in a hotel in Honolulu.
He probably applied to Miami before UH. Who knows, he probably took a tour of Miami before he came to Honolulu. He ultimately chose Miami. No big deal for us. Even if it was UH first, then Miami, so what? He had many offers from all sorts of BCS schools. We were, for a moment, dreaming, but we are now back to reality. BCS is a powerful draw that we are constantly fighting against. One realizes that we need to get in the BCS or eventually die.
Did he get a release from OSU? He might not even play in 2013?
UH Admin should learn a lesson here. No doubt. Let’s not have it happen for real on someone the coaches put lots of effort into. This was a great dry run. Nothing was guaranteed.
Warren Sapp’s life story from the “Dust Bowl” to the HOF was bad azz. You should watch it if you haven’t yet. I’m feeling that it inspired the young man.
Moving on.
Go Rainbow Warriors!
(glad Henrietta is supposed to downgrade. don’t want it messing with training camp…lol)
BYU coach changes his mind about game jerseys. Sounds very familiar to UH fans.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars/56710353-88/players-jerseys-byu-honor.html.csp
I’m not at all surprised when I saw he left. You can’t blame anybody but himself, too little too late. He doesn’t seem to have the mindset to be fully dedicated to any team. Stars doesn’t rate heart.
So who’s next? 😉
Seems like Miami got the paperwork done in a timely manner . Why?would it take 6 days and not 6 minutes if he had all his papers. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about but there must be a way to expidite the process. Anyway focusing on our dedicated players god bless and go warriors
#34 Derek: Thanks for the thoughtful and hilarious compilation of coach speak. Made my day, and made reading the next 144 pieces of (not all but) mostly drivel tolerable.
jm2375, my comment had nothing to do with the University of Hawaii’s academic standing. It was meant to point out that being a BCS super football school does not have anything to do with their academic program, as most are ranked in the top 100 colleges/universities in the nation. I am fully aware that Hawaii has a high academic standing as U.S. News and World Report ranked Hawaii in the top 150 (out of 350+ schools) in the nation.
134….As a fellow new to the board, I try to be very measured and judicious to confronting comments that I may not be of the same opinion–and thus I saw this will all due respect. But, the schools mentioned while certainly very solid, and having great regional reputation are hardly the best in the nation. With exception of schools like Stanford, U of Michigan, UVA and possibly Cal, as far as football is concerned, most of the top programs do have the same reputation academically on a national basis. The schools that from an either research and/or concentration on undergraduate education that remain at the top are the so-called Ivy-plus schools (Ivies plus MIT, U of Chicago, Stanford, Cal Tech, Northwestern…)
And the difference is rather significant, because of the dollars allocated towards education and research. Take for instance if you were to just include Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Cal Tech–they have a total endowment of about 75 billion dollars, yes 75 billion, and that’s divided among only 45 thousand students. So, lets be a bit more calibrated when we say the top schools in the nation….
Good Morning Folks!
Have a wonderful weekend!
A good Aloha Friday!
Happy birthday to Midnight!
Whoo-hoo!!!
Wow! Escape from the 50th state…
Morning, Gang!
Happy birthday, Midnight!
Council of Warriors… interesting!
Have a great Aloha Friday, Everyone!