Wednesday, February 4, 1998

Verbal commitments
academic for Rainbows

UH head coach Fred vonAppen
gets nine letters of intent today,
three from local players

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Coaches across the country will tell you verbal commitments are one thing. Getting academically eligible recruits to sign on the dotted line is quite another.

University of Hawaii head football coach Fred vonAppen is no exception to this way of thinking. He got down to his office early this morning to see just how many of the 26 verbal commitments given to him and his staff over the last two months proved to be true.

Today is the national signing date for all high school and most junior college players who didn't commit during the early signing period in December.

"I'm sure we'll lose as many as four or five guys to other schools, who verbally committed to us," vonAppen said this morning. "But if we land some of the players we believe are interested in coming here, this could be an excellent recruiting class for us."

By mid morning, Hawaii had received nine letters of intent. The three local players were St. Louis School wide receiver Craig Stutzmann, Iolani School linebacker Matt Wright and Radford High lineman Chris Hogge.

The six mainland recruits were wide receiver Sean Butts of Culver City High School in California, defensive lineman Shaun Jackson of Margarita High School in Orange County California, wide receiver Dwight Carter of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut Hill, Calif., Steve Dietschy of Diablo Valley (Calif.) Junior College, wide receiver Ray Harrington of Horizon High School in San Diego and offensive lineman Doug Gosling of Bakersfield (Calif.) Junior College.

"We needed some help at receiver, and we feel like we really addressed that area in this recruiting class," UH recruiting coordinator Don Dillon said this morning.

Before this morning, the only three players vonAppen knew were in this class were local linemen Aaron Laverenz of Radford High and Chris Smith of Mid-Pacific Institute, and junior college transfer Jeff Ulbrich.

Ulbrich of Gavilan College in Gilroy, Calif., was the only recruit to enroll at midterm. The 245-pound inside linebacker not only had more than 100 tackles last fall, he also intercepted two passes and forced four fumbles.

"We had three verbal commitments in December from junior college players, but Jeff was the only one who was able to be with us in the spring," vonAppen said.

Smith and Laverenz verbally committed last February, and will count toward this year's scholarship total. UH has three carry-over scholarships from 1997 and the 25 new ones allowed each year by the NCAA for Division I programs.

VonAppen approached his third recruiting class with the idea of signing as many qualified local players as possible.

If verbal commitments are any indication, Hawaii could land as many as 13 local players. Wright, Hogge and Stutzmann were the first three. Dillon hopes there are plenty more, but warned not all of the local players are academically sound.

"Several of those guys have a lot of work left to do in the classroom," Dillon said. "Even if we think they're academically eligible, they still have to be approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse."

Some of the standouts in the local class are defensive linemen White Sosene, Stanford Evaimalo and Kainoa Evangilista from Waianae High's OIA championship team that lost to St. Louis in the Prep Bowl the last two years.

The Rainbows also received verbal commitments from Campbell High linebackers Derek Zoller and Robby Takara, Damien High defensive lineman Chris Brown and Waipahu High defensive lineman Lui Fuga.

Local quarterbacks Shawn Withy-

Allen of Kalaheo High and Fred Salanoa of Radford High, who went to Snow Junior College in Utah, were among three quarterbacks to verbally commit.

Los Angeles Valley College Tom Racius also verbally committed, but was under the impression when he did that he could come in at midterm. Since Hawaii didn't have a scholarship to give him until the fall, it's possible Racius could go elsewhere.

The coaches believed Carter might end up at another school, too, but he came through with his letter this morning. Dillon said Carter is one of several recruited receivers who could make a difference next year.

The other two are Butts and Harrington. Harrington is a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder with 4.5 speed in the 40. Butts also has sprinter speed. The 6-3 standout ran a 10.5-second 100 meters in high school and gives Hawaii some big-play potential on the perimeter.

Hawaii also went after some big lineman. Gosling is a 6-3, 300-

pounder with solid strength and quickness. Dillon is hoping to receive a letter from Mt. San Antonio products Eric Shine and Dustin Owen as well.

Owen was a junior college All-

America last year. The 6-3, 310-

pounder opened some holes for Shine, who rushed for 909 yards and nine touchdowns last year for a team that finished 12-0.

http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu