I know you are trying to make one of the biggest decisions of your life, so I am here to help provide perspective, support - and, like every other person in the state of Hawaii, beg you to stay for another year.
In fact, I have been working behind the scenes to make your choice to stick around easier.
For example, every coach and player on the UH men's volleyball team has promised to change his first name to Yuval in your honor. That would give the team a head coach and a player with the same name: Yuval Wilton.
University president Kenneth Mortimer and athletic director Hugh Yoshida will also be officially known during the volleyball season as Dr. Yuval Mortimer and Yuval Yoshida, which actually has more of a ring to it than "Hugh."
And why would you want to go play in Japan instead for $60,000 or so a year? That's barely enough cash to get out of the Tokyo Airport. Yes, Hawaii is like Mexico compared to Japan's cost of living.
Plus, I've heard that it's so crowded in Japan that fans sit right on the volleyball court during the matches. You could land on one of the spectators during a jump serve and hurt your ankle. Or what if a sumo guy decided to sit right by the net? Yikes.
And why play in Europe with all of those nasty soccer, I mean, volleyball hooligans. And you would have to learn so many different languages in Europe. Here in Hawaii you only need to speak English and Pidgin.
OK, I'll get serious. You are a tremendous volleyball player and one of the best college athletes I have ever seen.
And that's just the start.
You obviously take the student part of student-athlete seriously since your grades were excellent. And what I like best about you is your charisma. It was a team effort to light up the entire state in such incredible fashion, but you were the main man.
I loved the way that you played so hard, with so much intensity on the court. Then afterward you were so kind to the fans, from the elderly to the teenagers to the little kids.
You were a celebrity as a great player and a hero as an outstanding role model. That's something you can always cherish - but you won't have it on the pro circuit. Fame is indeed fleeting. And there's something special about being such a star on a college campus.
The pro money is hard to pass up, but it will be there the following year. And I know it still bothers you to come so close to a national championship. There is a great team coming back and you know that if you're on it, Hawaii could win the national title. If you leave, you'll never know.
This isn't to say that you owe the University of Hawaii, the coaches, the team or the fans anything.
If you leave to turn pro it will be with all of our deepest wishes of aloha. But you also know that you are everyone's brother here. You are part of the Hawaii family - and not just inside the arena.
People in this state are the nicest in the world. And yesterday you played volleyball on one of the most beautiful beaches in the most wonderful climate. Why not enjoy all of it for another year?
One of the most touching sports scenes I have ever witnessed was this: Your mother and father, just in from Israel for the first time, wearing leis and beaming with pride as they watched you play. And then they posed for pictures and signed autographs as celebrities themselves. How proud you made them.
They can watch you play professionally, but nothing will ever match the overwhelming emotion in the Special Events Arena.
I mean this: If you leave, you might regret it. But if you stay for another season, I guarantee that you will be so glad that you did.
There will be no regrets - just more of the fun and magic that united an entire state.
Sincerely,
Yuval Fitzgerald