Bess gets second
chance at Hawaii

The football recruit is ready
to put his past behind him

Davone Bess has dealt with his past and eagerly anticipates his future.

The Hawaii football recruit served time in a juvenile detention facility for possession of stolen goods, Bess said yesterday. On Monday, he starts school at UH, pending academic clearance from the NCAA (if he is not cleared, Bess will likely start school in the fall).

One night, shortly after his 2003 graduation from Skyline High School (Oakland, Calif.), Bess accommodated friends who asked him for a ride. Before he realized it, stolen items were in his car, he said.

"I didn't know anything about what was going on, and was caught up in it, and I got blamed for it. It was a situation where basically I was caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time and I paid some consequences for it," Bess said in a telephone interview yesterday.

John Beam calls Bess "a really good kid" and "an unbelievable athlete."

Beam, Bess' high school football coach, declined to comment specifically on Bess' incarceration and what led to it.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't him. He got caught up in a situation," Beam said. "When you deal with inner-city kids, you find that they often get themselves into bad situations doing things trying to help friends and relatives."

Beam said that type of situation is how Bess got suspended once from Skyline.

"His brother and cousin got in a fight, and he got in the middle of it. And anyone near a fight gets suspended," Beam said. "He had no other problems while in high school. A really good kid."

Since last September, Bess has been working out under the tutelage of Beam, who left Skyline after 22 seasons last year to coach at Laney College.

"He has tremendous athleticism," Beam said. "He's about 5-11 (and 190 pounds), and he can dunk. He was a receiver his junior year and quarterback as a senior and led us to an undefeated season. He's a born winner."

Before his trouble, Bess was offered scholarships by Oregon State, San Diego State, Sacramento State and Boise State.

"The only school still interested was Oregon State," Bess said. "But after I visited Hawaii (in December), I refused to take the trip (to Oregon State)."

Former UH players Robert Grant and Keith Bhonapha are also Skyline alumni. Bhonapha is a graduate assistant with the Warriors.

"Actually, Keith is the best friend of my older cousin," Bess said. "I knew of him, since he played at Skyline."

Bess is ready for school and college football, he said. He plans to major in journalism or communications and said UH coaches have him projected to play slotback.

"I think I can bring a lot to the team. The offense kind of fits my style of play, but I'm willing to play wherever the team needs me," Bess said. "I'm hungry."

Coaches are not permitted to comment on recruits until they enter school, but UH coach June Jones has often spoken of his willingness to give young athletes second chances.

The most notable example is former Warriors linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, now defensive captain of the St. Louis Rams.

Tinoisamoa was among the most highly recruited high school players in San Diego in 1999, until he got into a one-sided fight that landed him in a juvenile detention center. Jones did not rescind UH's scholarship offer, as many other schools did. Tinoisamoa went on to an outstanding career at Hawaii that did not include negative off-field incidents.

Keli'ikipi to enter plea: West Keli'ikipi, who just completed his senior season as a UH running back, was scheduled to enter a plea this morning at Circuit Court in connection with a felony theft indictment last spring.

He originally pleaded not guilty in May as one of seven people involved in an alleged scheme to defraud Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. of $162,000.

At the time of his indictment in April, Keli'ikipi was suspended from the UH football team. He was later reinstated, and his case was pushed back to after football season.

Keli'ikipi rushed 72 times for 336 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He also caught 17 passes for 131 yards.

Owens chooses Goeas: Former UH receiver and kick returner Chad Owens has picked former UH and NFL offensive lineman Leo Goeas as his agent.

Owens, a second-team All-American as an all-purpose player, is working out in Phoenix, Ariz., in preparation for the Jan. 15 East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco and the Jan. 22 Hula Bowl Maui at War Memorial Stadium.