VonAppen:
‘We’re a more
athletic operation’

Day 1 of fall camp for the University of Hawaii is done, but don't expect any quick assessments from third-year head football coach Fred vonAppen.

"We could be national champions and we might not be," vonAppen said after yesterday evening's workout at Cooke Field. "We're not even in pads. It's a contact game. Right now, we're jock straps and straw hats.

"We're spending a lot of time on the whole. We'll go to the part and then back to the whole. Analyzing initially and fine-focusing at the end of camp. Right now, it's too early to determine anything."

Yesterday marked the beginning of fall camp for the veterans. The Rainbows will conduct morning and afternoon workouts until Saturday. There will be only one practice that morning, but it will be the first in full pads.

After that, two-a-days will continue through next week. In that time, the Rainbows will determine who will go at quarterback, what newcomers could break into the starting lineup and what approach the Rainbows will take on special teams.

"We're giving a lot of turns to everybody," vonAppen said. "They can't say they're not getting a chance. That helps them develop faster than standing around watching.

"Other than that, how can you jump to any conclusions? But I do think it's clearly apparent that we're a more athletic operation than we've been. Are we as athletic as some of the people we play? I don't know. Probably not. But we're more athletic than our team has been."

ACADEMIC UPDATE: Kynan Forney is yet to join the Rainbows and Robert Parker didn't make it through the NCAA clearinghouse.

VonAppen said Parker will enroll in a community college in the Los Angeles area. The defensive lineman from Hamilton High School in Los Angeles has been trying to join the Rainbows for two years.

"It was a matter of getting a grade changed in high school and it didn't happen," vonAppen said. "As for Forney, he has to pass summer school in order to be eligible.

"There's no use worrying about it, he has to do it. When he comes, he'll be able to play. Otherwise, if he comes now, he can't play."

VonAppen also said that he expects the returning veterans to remain academically eligible. That's a far cry from two years ago, when the Rainbows lost nearly two dozen players to grades.

NOT BIG ENOUGH: Fans attending yesterday's practice might have noticed freshman tight end James Bessard wearing No. 94 instead of 83.

"That's because we don't have a jersey big enough for him," assistant equipment manager Al Ginoza said. "The one we had was kind of funky, so we're making one for him."

Bessard is 6-foot-7, 260 pounds. The Houston resident is having quite a fall camp, catching nearly everything that comes his way.

"I'm impressed with the big lad," vonAppen said. "He looks kind of strange wearing a defensive number, but we'll get that corrected soon. This is the best group of tight ends we've had since I've been here."

INJURY UPDATE: Top outside linebacker Rinda Brooks spent most of yesterday's practice yelling instructions to his teammates from the sidelines.

Brooks will miss all of fall camp and might not be ready for the opener against the University of Arizona on Sept. 3.

"It feels very shady," Brooks said of his nasty hamstring pull. "I want to be ready, but I don't want to come back too soon and have it hurt all season."

Brooks and tight end Zeff Ah Quin were the only veterans missing on the first day of fall camp. Ah Quin is out with a knee injury.

Everyone else remained fairly healthy, although wide receivers Ray Harrington and Jauron Pigg suffered tightness in their legs and free safety Daniel Ho-Ching was slowed with a hamstring pull.

"You're going to have some muscle pulls on the first day," vonAppen said. "But hopefully, those guys will be ready to come back and practice (today)."

Junior college transfer Serge Gudowski was down with shinsplints. He might wind up sitting out this season.

---

By Paul Arnett