Signing day; UH lands Big Island DT/RB

first??

I guess there’s going to be some “win some -Lose some” today. Just hang on.

Good morning everyone!

Glad we have Diocemy Saint Juste. Welcome to the Warriors!

Early! I was writing a response to 310Dude when the last blog closed…

lost kirkwood to Rutgers…damn

its 2013, when will they stop using Fax machines?

Come on Warriors. Let’s heat up that fax machine.

Too bad about Kirkwood, but glad to hear Saint Juste on board.

Bobby C reports that according to people in the know, they would be shocked if any of the top recruits changed their mind. Top receuits supposedly solid. We’ll see.

Yeehah! Good Morning Folks!

What time does the Hawaii kids sign?

Drake Miller

Ohayooooooooogozaimasu!!!!

Kakimasu day (there’s probably a better Nihongo word for kakimasu for today)

Sign your name across my heart

Lady

– Terence Trent D’Arby

So cuuuuuuute when the girl athletes sign. Awwwwww.

# # #

PIAA signing ceremony streaming now:

http://new.livestream.com/scoringlive/events/1859146

Meant to say the Hilo Nā Koa event is tomorrow evening, February 7.

Remember ya’ll feel for the recruits today, now . . . no nitpicking and whining on the new Warrior ‘uns come, say, early September.

Dunno what’s so exciting about waching someone sign, unless you’re their family and/or friends. Just[e] need a list of who signed, please 🙂 .

Welcoming all the new revruits.great job so far chows rwecruiting effort.heres hoping all will sign, GO WARRIORS FROM HERE IN LNG BEACH CA

definitely a proud day for all parents of student-athletes that stay or go away for school.

Best of luck to all who are making a big decision today…it’s a lifetime decision, not a four-year decision.

#31

Nope

Morning Tom Mui. Fax machines must be busy.

Very interested to see who the “surprises” will be that accept the remaining scholarship offers.

@#43 Chix: Leon Sandcastle used up his eligibility for college. He is awaiting the NFL draft!

Wily?

Ah!!!!! tom mui!!!!!

# 51 better #, though, good luck # (last time a Grease got good luck # in posts . . . the Ravens won the Super Bowl [this was last Sunday, by the way.] 😀 .)

Isaac chose UCLA

Welcome to the new Warriors!

Diocemy Saint Juste is fast! Can’t wait to see them on the field!

Go Warriors!

😎 morning 808, tsaiko’s, tsaikette’s, warrior’s and wahine’s have a supa day

LOI day looking 😉 good so far congrats to coaches

one cup of kope den I go 🙂

Any word on Moala, Manoa, Tigi??

A Grease seconds # 61’s motion.

UCLA?!?! Gotta wear that weird Gatsby-ish light blue and gold. Be under the stigm of supposed-to-be-a-top-25-team but they aren’t. UCLA? C’mon, choose Warriors, recruits!

tweet from Barry Higdon:

DreamCatcher. . .❕⚡❕ ‏@Higdon_lavish12

Hawaii it’s Official … In ink pic.twitter.com/HxD3f1Ck

“Nothing beats home.”

-John Wa’a, when asked why he chose UH

Al is a wealth knowledge. Thanks Al.

Washington?? Hill?? Where they at??

ST why is the list of signees so short? Did we loose anyone besides Kirkwood? Did we win any battles and land a surprise signee or two?

Howzit, Gang!

Dang, this computer… been acting up for the past 2+ weeks. Thought I had it up and running about a week ago, but nooooooo…. We’ll see how it goes for now.

Anywayz… A BEEEEG Welcome and Aloha to all our new Warriors! Although I haven’t been following the who, what, where, etc. of this pre-NLI season, I’m always grateful of the many young men and women who choose to represent us, our school, and our state.

Oh yeah… one more thing…

Our dang car died on us again this morning. Got some grinding noises coming from the rear end. Not happy. Wish we could get a (newer) replacement for this ride. It’s served us well, but cost us a fortune in keeping it running too. Three-and-a-half more months of this school year, then we’re packing and on our way back home. Can’t wait!

So any word on who the remaining scholarships are going to go to or who they are taking a look at? Damn, Louisiana Lafayette took all the Florida prospects in Simeon and McCollum. How about that Xavier Woods guy, I heard ULL released him of his commitment? Let’s go get em if he didn’t sign elsewhere. An eye for an eye right?

Derek, re #63, are you saying those five are confirmed or unconfirmed? I haven’t seen anything official yet on Hill, Manoa, Moala, Washington or Wily (although I guess we’re assuming Wily is waiting for Kahuku’s ceremony).

If Barker qualifies, he might be the jewel of this class. With that being said, I think this class is no better than Mack’s or JJ’s.

Terrance Polk is in?

#80

As with all recruits, you never know until they hit the field, but get plenty jewels of anticipation….Zwahlen, Tulimasealii, St. Juste, Wily….

Nice pic of da future!

Estes in da hale!

73. +1

Did Pita and Keti decommit? Haven’t heard anything about them since their commitments were announced. UH athletics said we went 4 for 4 from Utah, so I’m guess these guys are out or it would be 6 for 6. Or atleast 4 for 6.

20 on the list now. Add Tigi Hill, David Moala, and Darzil Washington that makes 23. Need another CB, defensive lineman. Two Guys out there from the Big Island, Shaun Kagawa and David Fangupo. Who knows?

Colton, long snapper, I assume he’s a walk on.

I figured it was a distance thing with McCollum. Mom’s gotta agree.

#31. I see Ole Miss as the subject of a major NCAA recruiting investigation in 3-4 years.

eh…why not, 100!

Good news. C’mon Tigi…you know you are a Warrior!

well…jeezy33 got his wish with fangupo.

#101,

Preach it baby! Amen!

david manoa and david moala side by side on the dline will be the cause for disruption and confusion for announcers in the future.

It would suck if Tigi was the last minute switch. I counted my chickens before they hatched.

#96

are you talking about Ole Miss landing Robert Nkemdiche and 4 other 5* players?

weren’t they in the Cam Newton sweepstakes a few years ago?

SEC motto: if you ain’t cheating, then you ain’t trying…

Ewaliko reminds me of Johnny Football.

fangupo is a sleeper. dt/rb? now that’s a whole lotta player to work with!

Good idea to sign Ewaliko before track season.

Too bad no McCollum, but one reason to take a recruiting trip is to give the player an idea of the travel involved. I guess it was farther than it looked on the map. Works the same way for island athletes looking at the mainland.

Can’t win them all, but we will try when we watch them at Sam Boyd Stadium. Parlay!

So funny how everyone thought I was dumb last week when I said Ewaliko could play QB and open up a spread attack. Now it seems like genius idea that UH might implement it.

Jeremiah Taleni said taking the official visit to Pittsburgh with his mom sealed his decision and most important got the mom’s blessings. They loved the school. Distance wasn’t a factor, and that was their 1st time to the mainland.

so two more to go…db and a oline or dline dude, methinketh.

Is it game time yet?

Exciting day with more to come. Train hard, train smart, stay out of trouble.

GO WARRIORS!

#123

that dude is bigger than all of his O line…how’s his punch, the UH could use another Reagan Mauia.

Until he sign the dotted line, this guy is a gem, a must have, can’t miss, please, please do not change your mind. Can’t celebrate yet . GO WARRIORS!!

#137 and walk around with his reporter’s notebook and voice recorder on his head.

St, you are forgiven. Thanks for all the information. I am speaking on behalf of all the bloggers out there that we are grateful of the hawaiiwarriorbeat.com and that we can voice our opinions, thoughts, and suggestions. Okay, enough of the accolades, go back to work!!!

Washington is in

Fangupo, new yogurt franchise.

KT is a big time get since the noga’s days.

Tigi?

still waiting on m & m

Can also play TE so gonna depend on position of need and how well he performs

Fangupo is huge get. I mean huge.

if tigi goes to auburn he’ll be tigi the tiger…

For the old timers out there…Can someone name a recruiting case in past years that would match up with this year’s class?

Is this the best ever?

if tigi goes auburn or other big school its an uphill battle for pt. whereas, in hawaii….

know a student athlete needing help getting into college?

recruiting tips for student athletes:

#1 – Put together your Student-Athlete Resume [SEE EXAMPLE]

#2 – The #1 rule to remember is that coaches MUST see you play in order to be interested in recruiting you, either in person or on film. If you don’t have any offers and nobody has come out to see you play, your main goal is to get coaches to evaluate your film. [MORE]

#3 – When researching and contacting schools, you MUST figure out which assistant coach is in charge of recruiting your town, position, grade, etc. Each coaching staff splits recruiting responsibilities, so your priority is to find out which coach would be your ‘recruiting coach.’ [MORE]

#4 – Talk to your prep coaches and see if they would be able to call some schools for you. What level do they think you would be able to play at? Do they know any college coaches who are at that level who may be able to give you a quick evaluation? Would your coaches be willing to make some cold calls for you? [MORE]

#5 – Start contacting the local schools, schools within your state

Search NCAA schools by state

Search NAIA by state

#6 – If possible, try to evaluate which school lacks depth at your position. Recruiting decisions are based on timing, it will be difficult to get your foot in the door at a school that is stacked at your position. Coaches are much more likely to evaluate your film if they are in need of a player just like you.

#7 – Would you consider starting at a Junior College and transferring to a Division I or II school in a year or two? Many Division I and II programs put effort into scouting Junior College programs… [MORE]

#8 – If you have no scholarship offers would you be interested in joining the team as a walk-on and work to secure non-athletic scholarships or student loans? [MORE]

#9 – Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center if you haven’t already. It is a MANDATORY step, and a sign of maturity to coaches that you’ve already begun the process. [MORE]

#10 – Get a copy of your unofficial transcript ready as well as your SAT/ACT scores. Once coaches are interested in you, the next step will be to evaluate if you can qualify academically.

http://1001recruittips.com/2013s-10-tips-for-unsigned-seniors/

Good morning Tsaikos!

Welcome to all the new Warriors from your Tsaiko aunties and uncles.

Al, you have a good point there, a very good point. Playing time, or the lack of. I feel sorry for Jeremy Tabuyo. Texas A&M signed about 5 or 6 receivers and Tabuyo is the lowest rated, going against a lot of 4 and 5 star recruits. Do we really think he’s going to get a lot of PT over there. Realistically, probably no. But, he made the decision so he has to live with it. If can all wish him good luck, but more likely he will be out of sight, out of mind.

Tigi Hill, home is where the heart is and you will be proud to call himself as a “Warrior”. The State will embrace you will be a household name, almost!!!!

Don’t underestimate Tabuyo. He ran a 4.43 at the PIAA combine, and a 4.46 at the Nike SPARQ combine. He may surprise a few people. I’m for one, rooting for his success.

Tigi needs to realize that he’s a JC transfer so he needs to play immediately. Auburn is using him as a backup plan as guys fell through. If they thought he could contribute immediately he would have been offered a long time ago. Now they are just filling positions of need so they have depth. Hawaii offers instant playing time which is essential when you only have two years of eligibility left. Plus you’re in Hawaii with your family and friends.

Jimmy, don’t get excited. We are not saying they are not good players or they won’t perform well. It is all about the opportunity to play and the competition they are in. Two extremes, Marcus Mariota redshirted, competed, and won the starting job for the Ducks, and he’s now a Heisman candidate this coming year. That’s terrific. Then, there’s his former teammate at St. Louis Juda Parker, State defensive player of the year,. He went to Colorado and we have not heard about him since he left the islands. One is on a great team, and the other is on a terrible team. In A&M’s case, they are a terrific team with a Heisman QB. Tabuyo will compete in practice like everybody else. Let’s see how he does.

The plus is he’s on a good team and the only thing he can do is do the best he can. We all know the star ratings are not an absolute and a lot of players fly under the radar, like St. Juste. However, the scouting services are very good and for the most part they are accurate in their evaluation of talent.

If Chow were the skipper of a tuna boat, I would say he pulled in quite a haul. There are same primo pelagics in this year’s class. Good job, skipper!

Some of the pelagics in this haul are destined for the markets in Japan.

Go Warriors!!!

wicked warriors!

Great point Jimmy the lock! It certainly works both ways.

BIK

@Derek

Not getting excited, just saying.

179. He is not signing a letter of intent. I think it’s more a letter of agreement or something like that.

179…why do you blame this young 18 year old when it is the adults who are reporting this information that is however misconstrued.

188. Must be a letter of agreement stating that BYU no longer has to spend any time, effort, and resources to poach Pita during his mission.

bigwave…heard his name being bandied about, too.

191. al, the last time I recall landing someone like this was when we signed Moses Samia. Some DT that we were on ended up going to UDub (don’t recall name of course). It’s ended up being a pretty good deal for us…

The Warriors lost Dejon?

Tulimasealii, Wa’a, Wiley, Sale, Barker and Griffin are huge wins for UH.

Tigi would also be a big one. Nonetheless, follow your heart Mr. Hill because that is where you’ll be most successful.

179.

According to this twitter, Pita did sign with BYU.

LINK: https://twitter.com/BrandonCGurney/status/299256766137507840

no, we have dejon allen.

i suspect manoa and moala are subject to securing the proper signatures.

i wouldn’t totally give up on pita. the mission gives him time to work on his SAT/ACT’s. so he could be available.

@al

Hope your suspicions are correct. Maybe you could send some bird drones to spy.

191. He is a good pick up, but we lost out on a lot of talented commitments. DT is our thinnest position so any DT with size we can get I welcome. But he is far from a Sopoaga type talent. He is more like Regan Mauia.

Can ‘t get them all , but most did signed with us so I’m pretty happy with that. Any bonus prospect is always a plus. GO WARRIORS!!

This had potential to outshine all recent classes, but I do think JJ had a couple better classes. Namely the D Bess class, but time will tell. I love the size, one thing missing in most of JJ’s classes.

Looks like UH got 5 of the Top 15. When was the last time UH got that many?

Star-Advertiser Top 15 prospects and their schools

1. Isaac Savaiinaea LB Punahou UCLA

2. Kennedy Tulimasealii DT Waianae UH

3. Scott Pagano DT Moanalua Clemson

4. Reeve Koehler OG Saint Louis Arkansas

5. Colton Goeas LB Saint Louis Kansas

6. Titus Failauga DE Pac-Five Oregon State

7. Aofaga Wily RB Kahuku UH

8. Jeremy Tabuyo WR Saint Louis Texas A & M

9. Kamalei Correa DE Saint Louis Boise State

10. John Wa‘a OG Kahuku UH

11. Ualesi Sale DE Aiea UH

12. Jeremiah Taleni DT Kailua Pittsburgh

13. Dakota Turner DE Mililani San Diego State

14. Manase Hungalu LB Kealakehe Oregon State

15. Keelan Ewaliko QB-Ath. Baldwin UH

Whatever happened to the Samoan player who signed a LOI, but was given time to take care of family matters before reporting to UH?

215. Thats what I’m saying. In Hawaii its not often we get that kind of talent

Wow kirkwood back to Hawaii !!

like al said, manoa & moala probably have some parental/guardian coordinating circumstances to deal with. just gotta get the signatures.

don’t be a tease.

220. Where did you hear that? Would be great news

Couple sources…. But Scott Stump confirmed initial source…

OMFG getting Kirkwood is huge.

Holy Jeezyux!

220. Jeezy, are you sure about Kirkwood? NJ Star Ledger reporting that Kirkwood will go to Rutgers.

“In a signing day switch, Neptune wide receiver Keith Kirkwood announced he would attend Rutgers on Wednesday and turned down a scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

Kirkwood was not one of the 22 players who submitted a national letter of intent to play at Rutgers, today.

The No. 49 prospect on The Ledger 50, who had previously made a verbal commitment to Hawaii, changed his mind after an official visit to Rutgers this past weekend. He said he plans to redshirt next fall.

“I just wanted Rutgers from day one,” Kirkwood said. “As soon as they offered, it opened my heart back up and I was so glad that they came back into the process.””

I tried faxing my LOI in…I think they gave me the wrong number because I keep getting “Error Code: LMFAO”. (O_o)

#233/#234

Per the UH website:

11:39 am HT: UH processes paperwork for defensive lineman Ualesi Sale of ‘Aiea High School and wide receiver Keith Kirkwood of Neptune (NJ) High.

#237 & 238

Roger that

#233

Keith Kirkwood’s signed LOI is in the football office at New Jersey

This flipping is driving me crazy.

David manoa set to sign letter tonight

BigWave96744:

yep, that’s the one!

12:11 pm HT: Defensive back Jamie Tago of American Samoa just inked with UH.

Sorry if this was asked earlier but aren’t there 2 on this list that don’t count towards the 2013 scholarships?

Question: How binding is an LOI? Can a recruit change his mind after that? I’m not sure how it works, but it seems that with the fluidity of college recruiting, there needs to be a point when schools know for sure who they have coming in.

Considering how things are today, the only safe bet to know is when the prospect registers and shows up for class on Day 1.

Heard that Ewaliko is not going to grey shirt. This was reported on The Fred Guzman Show.

Coach Chow and his staff, well done and hope this gives your program a huge boost for the upcoming season. Again, congratulations.

hey guys! how do the new warriors look?

Kirkwood Signs with UH!!!

National Signing Day 2013: Live chat and complete coverage

Links to all Signing Day photo galleries and videos on NJ.com

Rutgers football 2013 recruiting class

Troubled times at Penn St. can’t keep N.J. duo out of Happy Valley

Rutgers shows signs of expanded recruiting footprint with 22 commits

All Stories | All Photos | All Videos

Editor’s note: 5:20 p.m. Keith Kirkwood has signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Hawaii. Please check back for our story.

In a signing day switch, Neptune wide receiver Keith Kirkwood announced he would attend Rutgers on Wednesday and turned down a scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

Kirkwood was not one of the 22 players who submitted a national letter of intent to play at Rutgers, today.

The No. 49 prospect on The Ledger 50, who had previously made a verbal commitment to Hawaii, changed his mind after an official visit to Rutgers this past weekend. He said he plans to redshirt next fall.

“I just wanted Rutgers from day one,” Kirkwood said. “As soon as they offered, it opened my heart back up and I was so glad that they came back into the process.”

Kirkwood, who also had multiple Division 1 basketball offers, has gained attention with his raw athleticism. In his debut football season, the 6-foot-4 receiver caught 30 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns and helped lead Neptune to a Central Jersey, Group 3 final. He earned Second Team All-Monmouth County honors.

With Kirkwood’s size and basketball background, he is just scratching the surface of his football potential, Neptune coach Mark Ciccotelli said.

“There are so many guys like him in the NFL,” Neptune coach Mark Ciccotelli said. “There’s Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham, the college basketball guys. There’s a lot of carry over from that sport to this sport. It’s a matter of dealing with the physicality of it everyday.”

Kirkwood, who measures 6-4 and 210 pounds, will use his redshirt season to add some bulk to his frame and hone his football skills, Ciccotelli said.

Kirkwood, who had verbally committed to Hawaii in December, said that staying home is a family decision from all angles.

On top of being less than an hour away from his immediate family and native Neptune, Kirkwood feels the support from his second “family.”

“I’m most excited for the family at Rutgers,” Kirkwood said. “It’s the foundation. They all come together as one, no matter what. They just have that partnership and the love for each other that helps the family build.”

Editor’s note: An earlier version stated Kirkwood signed a national letter of intent. Kirkwood is not among the 22 players to sign a LOI with Rutgers today.

I think they have to attend the school they want to go to on their own dime for a year and lose one year play time. LOI one year contract.

Heh, Mr. Tsai . . . don’t keep driving if smoke emits from thy engine.

did we not get anyone we thought we were going to get?

chawan:

unsure cause so much chatter from so many individuals with so many different responses – signed, no – oh, he did sign – oh wait, decomitted and signed with—-

typical LOI day in Hawaii!

270: Still waiting on Tigi Hill

I have been following all the posts all day and went to espn.

Has anyone heard of the guys on this list?

(http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/school/_/id/62/class/2013/page/considering)

I know I havn’t But some good size hope we get some of them.

Tulimasealii & Tigi Hill would have been the two greatest losses to me…. wasn’t looking good with T.Hill for a moment BUT according to ST we got him!!!!!!

Tigi alright!!!!

Patience is a virtue, thanks ST.

I have been excited about this class as the off season has gone along. Its a loss for the few who decided to go other ways.

According to ESPN, this years class consists of 2 4* and 7 3* recruits. Way to Go Coach!

Tigi Hill could easily be a 4 star recruit! Welcome Home Tigi!

ST re: #112

are you hinting that Norm Chow may be modifying the offense to better utilize the players (Ewaliko) skills?

Woah. Somebody’s gonna make a mint on T-shirts of new Warrior recruit names:

T[I]GI WARRIOR!!!!!!!!

Some people are just Tsaiko when it comes to the home team.

HawaiiAthletics.com website has a Press Conference with Coach Norm Chow at 2pm Hawaii Time about The 2013 Signing Day Results.

290 gobows

Coach wouldn’t be modifying anything. They already tried to run the pistol offense. And I know for a fact that they ran the dive keeper that the niners and seahawks and redskins use. Its just I don’t feel it could have been run with joey and schroeder in the back field.

I think that there are more options to use that play more with the players coming in.

#162. This is not the best ever on paper. The best ever recruiting class on paper was JJ’s 2nd year. He signed all top 10 local recruits! You can look it up. It never happened before and has never happened again. Timmy Chang was the top of the list and he was heavily recruited.

291

I’m already smiling at the idea of Tigi Hill and Marrell Jackson back at Safety together. What a tandem!

who else are we waiting for? are there any uh commits that have yet to sign?

It will be interesting to see who they fill the remaining two-three scholarships with…According to ST, that won’t happen till tomorrow or Friday.

Tua’au, Manoa, Moala

Thanks Bowwar.

Hope hes not another dejon allen type deal.

Wow, Thanks for the updates all day folks…

Great news on Kirkwood and Tigi… So are you just waiting on Moala and Manoa?

Wow! Sounds like Pita is the only possible loss so far, barring any losses to academics… That’s pretty awesome!

Getting 340 pound athlete David Fangupo for Pita is fine by me.

ST, any word on Moala?

Anyone know if Shaun Kagawa signed an LOI with anyone yet?

My prayer is answer. Thank you Tigi. Now I can sleep good tonite. GO WARRIORS!!

319. Hawfan, Tigi had offers from Oregon St., Kansas, Utah, Auburn, Oklahoma, Arizona State and Nebraska.

Is Bronco Mendenhall an LDS member?

Congratulations to Coach Chow and his staff…proof is in the pudding. Dang, wish I could think of a not-so-trite saying! But, it’s still a great day!

Maybe Kagawa is waiting for the Na Koa Hilo event to sign.

BIK

#321 PolyMom,

Your words ring so true!

Tigi Hill has sent in his LOI. Welcome to Warrior Nation!

So again I ask, is this the BEST recruiting class we have ever gotten?

I’m not talking about results of, how they perform, what happens in 2-3-4 years…Just talking about signing day and the hype over players on signing day.

So, is this THE BEST EVER?

Welcome to the new Warriors and Rainbows!

Whoo-hoo!!!

Gotta have folks who absolutely love to rain on the parade.

Sad.

What’s the latest on Daniel Etuale?

Dang. Kids need to pay attention and remain focused to reach their goals. High school is a lot simpler now with a myriad of additional support. Of course life outside of school is more difficult, too.

Super job coaches!

For those with two feet set in reality, this looks to be on paper an amazing class. Two ESPN 300 recruits with a good mix of local and mainland players have filled most of our positions of need. Really would have liked to see Moala to help with our DL depth, but understand that all the boys need to take care of business before they can strap it up for the Warriors.

😎

#330 Thanks Big Island Kurt. Do you know when the Hilo Na Koa event is supposed to take place? Since I didn’t hear anything, I thought maybe UH pulled their offer to him…

Etu-who? Nah, good luck to him.

Nice class by Chow…. Ekuale, and Tua’au was disappointing but that’s how the recruiting game goes.

Still the best class since 2005. The days of keeping 7 or more of the top 10 best local players is gone because Hawaii is heavily recruited area now by many mainland schools.

Think a realistic goal for local recruiting is to get at least 1 of the top 5, and a total of 4 of the top 10. Since the Star-Advertiser #9 is going to Boise, I’d switch him with Sale at #11 and call it all good.

Great Job to Norm and company……great job to the smart young man who chose the Warriors….John Wa’a is going to be a GIANT

I think we hit the Big 500 tonight, any guess who will it be?????

Really impressed with how hard the coaches work on recruiting. Just hope they all qualify academically. I remember some of Mac’s recruiting classes were really good but after couple of months, it turned out that 20-25% eventually couldn’t qualify academically.

Today is always one of the most exciting days in college football. Every coach will tell you that his recruiting class is real good. AFter 45 years of watching college football, it’s still exciting but I now temper my excitement with the reality that some will make it and some won’t, for whatever reasons. that’s why good recruiting every year is the lifeblood of a good program. Looks like Chow has gotten off to a good start.

Go Warriors…er Go Bows…er Go Rainbow Warriors…uh, whatever the brand name is.

To think what a winning season+bowl+USC defeat would have on recruiting.

Hey I can fantasize!

Great job by the coaches in recruiting. Can you imagine how difficult it is to win the hearts and minds of the talented young men and their parents when recruiters from the big name schools are constantly calling and visiting. Coach Chow needs a big broom to shoo them away.

WHO

TODAY!?!?!

Re #365 Oh, please…. I agree with most of your post, but nobody knew about Hawaii football until Saint Manti? Whatever.

Haha…

I knew Mr. Chicken Grease would emerge!

Haleakala,

I saw your post earlier… Isn’t it amazing that we have 2 of the top 300 national recruits… (As rated by ESPN)

Hawaii is ranked fourth in the conference. So far, I agree with everyone else that the 2013 recruiting class makes the future look promising.

Latest 247 Composite Rankings:

http://247sports.com/Season/2013-Football/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=M-West

D1, hope it’s that “great minds” thing. Otherwise, SCARY!

Haleakala,

I completely agree… I’m so excited with this class… I hope it shows translates to wins…

There’s good size especially and quickness compared to other classes in recent years.

I saw Kennedy play against Leilehua. It was unbelievable how often he was in the backfield chasing down the quarterback or the runner. He had at least six sacks in the game even though he was double teamed.

idk about all of you, but i cant wait for the 2013 football season to begin. Truck the Fojans! (usc is our 1st game right?)

Haleakala,

Yeah, I’m very excited for Kennedy. I think he’s the top recruit in Hawaii. Forget “IS”, I really believe Kennedy is an absolute game changer..

Does anyone know about jc wr stacey howard

Wahine Soccer is definitely on the rise. Looks like Coach Bud has a great recruiting class also! Go Wahine!

D1shima,

Thanks for the link!

tommui…wasn’t it reported that stacey howard still had some academic hills and mountains to climb?

400+

5th century!

i kept doing the herman…you know fumbling with the keys.

Next year is going to be better and the following year is going to be awesome!

wafan, don’t mean to be critical, but don’t you go to bed kinda early?

WM . . .

I am usually up around two. I get some of my most productive time before the kids show up.

Anyhow, really nytal!

So when EXACTLY is Fangupo gonna sign his LOI? Need to set up a Poach Patrol.

wafan, 2:00? Wow, I usually haven’t even gone to bed yet. Respect to you for your dedication to the kids.

ST’s column on Recruits, in “Breaking News” section.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130206_Warriors_add_20_recruits_get_commitment_from_big_Kealakehe_lineman.html?id=190128061

Hawaii is stacked at the RB, LB, and DB going into 2013. So no worries there.

The WR signees bring in a ton up of upgrades. Barker & Kirkland being the highlights, but I think the transfers may be more D1 ready at the start of the year. It appears Chow has a couple of deep threats for 2013.

Like any other OL/DL signees across the nation, the incoming freshmen will likely have to redshirt to get stronger as about 95% of incoming freshmen aren’t physically prepared for the size and speed of D1 linemen. Just having a healthy roster would massively improve the D-line. Not getting Ekuale or Tua’au hurts, but Moala and a platoon of healthy returnees should make things better.

Hopefully Griffin can anchor the left tackle position and protect the QB. Both tackles last year were terrible, so anything should be an upgrade. Sounds like the interior of the line is pretty good. Clarke looks to be a NFL prospect down the road and the guard positions will be highly competitive for who gets to start, and that’s always a positive.

QB will be upgraded with Graham running the show. Woosley appeared to be good in practice and scrimmages last year and will should push Graham hard in camp. Whoever starts will be an upgrade over Schroeder or Higgins. Schroeder did his job… he was like a rental car while you wait for your real car gets worked on in the shop. Unforetunately for UH, the car was wrecked pretty bad.

Updated list of Top Hawaii Football recruits

1. Kennedy Tulimasealii

2. Aofaga Wily

3. John Wa’a

4. Ualesi Sale

5. Keelan Ewaliko

6. Rashaan Falemalu

7. David Fangupo

8. Who

9. What

10. Where

11. When

12. Anon

13. Null

14. Gone

15. Forgotten

Metaphorically speaking, years of bad recruiting was like neglecting a car’s engine warning light for years. If you don’t pay attention to it or use bad parts/labor to fix it, at some point the engine will fail and gets destroyed.

UH is at the point where the defective parts have been identified and removed. The parts needed to fix the engine have been ordered to make the repairs. Now UH must wait for the parts to arrive and be installed. The tough part for UH is that UH does not have the funds to order all the parts in one shipment (2012 recruits), so thats why UH needed to get the rental car to get them around (2012 season), until they can order the rest of the parts to fix the engine (2013 recruits).

Engine should be running at full speed by 2014 and then UH gets to start upgrading the car with high performance parts.

By upgrading a car, I don’t mean Rice Rockets, with the turbo i4, homo spoilers and mouse fart mufflers. By upgrades I mean real cars…. turning a ’70 350ci Chevelle into a LS6 454 Chevelle

Heh, WarriorMojo, that is a true list?

Wonder if there any — especially local recruits — who should’ve been signed but wasn’t, for whatever reason. (grades, bad luck, didn’t fill out papers . . .)

When the girl athletes sign — yes, yes, a Grease has expressed along these lines already — it’s charming. It’s like they’re “playing house,” from when they were younger or something, all over again, bwahahaha. A Grease, for sure, NEVER EVER succumbed to that . . . but, what about the rest of you fellas? Let’s hear ya’ll own “playing house” or “playing doctor” true Hollywood story 😉 .

420. You’re right. Those are the only names of players from Hawaii in this class that we’re to be familiar with for the next four years.

Excellent web site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to several buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you for your effort!

A Grease got good chance get post # 500 . . . oh . . . you think a Grease bragged too much about GETTING POST # 1 [AKA, “ICHIBAN”] ON THE VERY FIRST THE WARRIOR BEAT BLOG ENTRY BY A TSAI FOR THIS YEAR!?!?! Oh, you have seen no’ting yet, mon!!!!

“LOI” gonna be the NEW Roman number for “500” once a Grease gets that post!

@425. Message went right over its head.

3rd and short. Bring in Fangupo!

Unfortunately not as many DTs as I would like, hopefully we can find some late gems, but good recruiting effort over all. Especially after a poor season.

Awesome! Welcome to to all the New Warriors!

Totally love the break down example, with #422 lol. Judging the past recruiting classes was not the cause of last years losing season. Everything in life comes full circle. So if one particular part doesn’t work properly in an vehicle engine, Then the whole vehicle is useless. This years class may look promising but these athlete still have to earn there stripes and prove that they are worthy. Some of them are not completely eligible just yet. Some of coach Macs recruits will be starters this coming season due to there level of experience on the field. His last class still has three years to play. Some of them are gone and have transfered. The coaches have more experience recruiting then us spectators and fans who may think we know. They also take many chances on recruits they feel may benefit the team. But they are here because they want to be here.

Congratulations to all our local recruits who made the choices of picking there colleges.

Welcome new warriors! Can’t wait to see all of you put in work.

Go Warriors!

The choices a Grease don’t get . . . bruddah attending Tex A&M; simply cultish their fan base and cheering. Hope he can get used to it. BMOC will be Manziel for the majority of bruddah’s time there. And Rutgers? Red Knights, or whatever they’re called, had that ONE good season and one GREAT game. Oh, well, his choice at least let a Grease Rutgers still has a football program.

Oh, a Grease could go off.

#418. Former UH Athlete,

Apparently those in the business didn’t think that last season’s starting LT was so terrible…..’cuz gonna be signing up at mid-year for a full ride scholie with the Big-12 Baylor Bears….declining full-ride scholie offers from Pac-12 and ACC programs. No doubt that these full-ride scholie offers wouldn’t have been made IF he indeed was so terrible.

BTW, last season’s starting RT still competing…..so better hopefully not so terrible next season.

Like ST posted, Moala not coming this coming season…..for the same reason UH stopped recruiting Tua’au…..i.e., more school work to finish up to get AA…..as has been previously posted.

Great that Tigi signed…..but supposedly still has school work to finish up too.

#447,

IF offered, would probably commit.

But heard that might have gotten a late-offer from a BCS school over this past weekend.

#448, unfortunately for UH, and for many schools across the country, one problem with JC transfers is reason why they had to go to JC in the first place.

I didn’t see that Tua’au had schoolwork issues.

Tigi is a nice addition. As i said before… UH is stacked at DB. i really like Merrill Jackson as a freshman last year. He really showed flashes of high level talent, but like most freshmen starters, they’re inconsistent. He’s really going to need to have a strong camp to ward off the newcomers.

I like Hardy-Tuliau also, but I think Jackson has better talent and Tigi is taking one of the starting spots, so JH-T may be the odd man out or convert to nickel.

Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Coach Chow and sarkisian have some sort of disagreement or falling out at sc?

If so, then uw’s attempt to poach Kennedy was extra dirty.

There will be some late surprises to come. Look forward to seeing some gems come spring and early summer make their way to Manoa.

Hardy Tuliau natural position to me is Nickel. Think he will finally get moved back.

marrell jackson

#454,

You’re correct…..about Chow and Sarkisian…..

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/04/sports/sp-rivals4

451…once and for all, kirkwood enjoyed his visit he committed to hawaii. his parents wanted him home because of the long distance. rutgers offered a preferred walk on status with a possibility of a scholie next year. at the urging of his family he relented and picked rutgers.

he did not have to sign a binding loi, because there was no scholie.

he probably was so upset with this decision that finally i believe his family let him have his wish to become a warrior. so, the parents signed off the loi which he still kept and after speaking with chow he was allowed to submit his binding loi.

thus, keith kirkwood is a warrior and life is good in new jersey and the university of hawaii football program.

he’ll develope in to an nfl caliber wr in four years.

459…back in the day, well waaaay back in the day, oregon state was one of the schools that i applied for and yes the minimum qualifications were much lower than uh. still, my single parent mother could only afford the $116.25 per semester at manoa.

(disclaimer: i never let my mother pay for my tuition.)

jdog…two more surprises for sure.

467…i concur with that assessment. i would make him a te first. not too many of his kind that comes out of the spread offenses run by most hs locally these days. in fact, more and more you see hs football running some sort of spread.

Former UH Athlete:

February 6th, 2013 at 7:56 pm

Not sure if we’re going to make 500…

We will, insightful, analytic Former UH Athlete.

A Grease believes Former UH Athlete wants to keep his screen as “Former UH Athlete.” Heh. Nothing wrong w/that, yes?

You folks will help get a Grease to # 500.

😀

I sure hope Kagawa goes to UH.

BIK When I was coaching at Keaau we had to figure out how to stop him on the line. He is a very well conditioned machine with good footwork with him playing on both sides he would be a great fit at UH.

Thank you Doris Sullivan. Wonder if the ncaa could issue a violation notice to UW for trying to use a third party for their recruiting of KT. Ms Sullivan did the right thing and the more I think about it, UW did commit a recruiting violation by asking someone other than an approve recruiter to recruit KT. Counselor tm, can UH file a complaint with the ncaa???

whitey: actually, as you probably know, that’s what doris does through her piaa — act as a go-between for hawaii high school kids and colleges. it’s a non-profit, totally volunteer-staffed. piaa, and doris, have worked wonders for hawaii kids for many years. they’re in compliance with ncaa rules, so no violation likely.

al, how you?!? I have a paper you might need……….maybe I can give to Reyn, or I’ll just e-mail you.

what about Charles Sataraka, any chance of him walking on at Hawaii

Counting down the end of a satisfying day…thanks to all for the interesting information and comments. Extra thanks to the blog host for working so diligently for this day and giving us this forum!

pp…what ever works. he’ll be there tomw night.

#473

very impressive…even Ewaliko couldn’t get away from him…dude has a knack for slicing through the gaps.

Actually. Dunno if a Grease will stay up to reach # 500 (now, now . . . no worry, no worries . . . a Grease still rightfully owns the very first post this year onna The Warrior Beat. 🙂 )

Hope it’s someone . . . cool. 😀

great day for Hawaii Football!

#473, awesome video. Runs like a deer, hits like a truck, reminds me of Niko Noga. He would be a big get for the Warriors

Did you notice how many Utah recruits we got? Ten years ago, Utah wasn’t heavily recruited bc there were not that many D1 football players. The Poly families were settling in back then and now many of their kids are college age. Now, West Coast schools have to stop in Utah bc the explosion of Poly talent has eclipsed Hawaii. Next year they are saying will be the peak of Utah football D1 high school players. there may be 40-60 D1 players and with Chow’s good name in Utah, we may be able to get our share….but we gotta win first.

Maybe can force it.

With the force, don’t stop.

Keep on

With the force, don’t stop.

UH is the blast

Only time will tell about this class but looks promising.

Lumpkin is related to Gregory, so I’m surprised Gregory is a “problem” at UH since GL is a disciplinarian…

Too bad Lister is probalby not returning…Aside from Gregory, he probably had the best burst of the remaining RBs.

Cherry getting bruddah Tigi to sign. Would like to see some other names make it to UH too… Ben Mamea? Penitito Faalologo?

Give it up foi a Grease, Bowwar.

All hail Grease, # 500!!!!

#510,

Mamea playing strictly rugby nowadays…..while Fa’alologo finally now enrolled at UH.

Sorry for the double post, #s 512 and 513. [cringes.] Doesn’t seem to matter much, though.

Thanks to everyone who helped get a Grease to post # 500. You folks are great.

If you were to tell a Grease that he’d earn the first # 500 post of The Warrior Beat to include Jacko lyrics to boot . . . a Grease would’ve told you, “you know? You’re most positively 100% correct! Let’s look forward to it!”

Take care. [Nemasu]

Now that that’s over…

Did we hire an OC yet?

gne

@362,

I called it!

Morning all!