The 6-foot-6, 275-pound Souza, who scored 1300 in his SAT and had more than 30 scholarship offers, said the academic situation at the Evanston, Ill., institution was as much a factor in his decision as was its 16th-ranked Big-10 football program.

"They have a great medical school and one of the top communications schools in the nation," said Souza, a Parade All-American selection who wants to major in medicine.

"People will call me crazy for going so far away in snow and ice. But I feel the way the school is set up academically gives me the best chance to succeed."

Souza is the fourth local player to verbally commit during this recruiting season.

Making earlier declarations were St. Louis offensive lineman Dominic Raiola (Nebraska), St. Louis safety Wes Tufaga (Utah) and Kahuku offensive lineman Matt Parkhurst (UNLV).

Two Kamehameha offensive linemen, 6-2, 263-pound Steven Grace and 6-4, 250-pound Manly Kanoa, appear to be on the verge of committing to the University of Hawaii.

Star-Bulletin All-State defensive player of the year, Ed Taamu of Iolani, has said that UH is very much in the running for his services, as are Colorado and Utah.

Punahou receiver Tafiti Uso, the all-state offensive player of the year, is expected to snap up an offer from Stanford as soon as he is academically accepted. With a 1330 SAT score and a strong grade point average, there seems little question of that.

Souza is the first Hawaii player to take a football scholarship with the Wildcats since former Kamehameha defensive lineman Noah Horner went there in 1966.

Among the schools that courted Souza were the entire Pac-10, the entire WAC, as well as Miami, Ohio State, Michigan, Colorado, Iowa State, Iowa, Tennessee, Auburn, Kansas, Kansas State, Army, and Navy.