Gibson gets ready to be a Warrior

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

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Safety Le'Marcus Gibson will be a freshman at Hawaii this fall. Right now, he is home in Gulfport, Miss., running and lifting to prepare himself for the Warriors' camp in August.

He is especially aware of the dreaded test of repeated 220-yard sprints that every UH player takes on the first day of fall camp.

Gibson chose Hawaii over Vanderbilt and Tulsa, as well as Gulf Coast Community College. He considered the JC route to possibly attain a scholarship offer from a big-name school later.

When UH came calling, Gibson -- who finished high school with a 3.2 grade-point-average and qualifying test score -- decided to become a Warrior. At first there was no scholarship available for him until next spring, but one opened up for the fall and Gibson will be among the 105 players reporting to UH in five weeks.

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Mention "220s" to him.

"Whoo! I've been working for that, running every day," said Gibson, in a phone interview from his home in Gulfport, Miss.

Gibson, an incoming freshman safety at Hawaii, said he knows all about the conditioning test administered to UH football players on the first day of training camp each season. He said he plans to be among the Warriors who successfully complete the 10 sprints of 220 yards in the prescribed time.

"I've been lifting in the morning and running in the afternoon when the sun goes down," said Gibson, who reports that the temperature has been nearing 100 degrees recently in Gulfport.

Gibson, who said he is 6 feet tall and 197 pounds, is fully academically qualified for Division I and UH coming out of Harrison Central High School -- where he was in on 142 tackles last season.

He nearly went to Gulf Coast Community College (alma mater of UH receiver CJ Hawthorne) because at one point his only firm D-I options were Vanderbilt and Tulsa.

Then Gibson accepted an offer from UH to enroll in January 2008. That was accelerated when a scholarship opened up for the fall.

"I felt like (UH) worked hard on recruiting me and were willing to take a chance on me when no Division I schools in Mississippi offered me," Gibson said.

Gibson probably won't be ready to play right away. But if he can learn the defense quickly enough, he could get time at the starting spot vacated by Leonard Peters, who is now in camp with the New York Jets.

Undaunted

Freshman quarterback Bryce Kalauokaaea said he doesn't expect to be in fall camp with the Warriors, but will return to the team when the roster limit is eliminated with the start of classes.

The Castle graduate, who got some reps in spring practice, continues to work hard, though. He shows up for informal passing drills on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even though he's low on the depth chart, Kalauokaaea considers it an investment in the future.

"I'm working on improving my timing," he said. "That's the main thing, getting used to the speed of the receivers. Each receiver is different."

Short yardage

Incoming freshman Kevin Konrath has been shifted from linebacker to defensive end. ... Slotback Marquez Jackson, who was also on the UH basketball team last season, is transferring, Warriors receivers coach Ron Lee said. ... One of college football's most prominent journalists, Ivan Maisel of ESPN, is on the attendee list for the Western Athletic Conference Preview next month in San Jose. Heisman Trophy candidates Colt Brennan of UH and Ian Johnson of Boise State might have something to do with that.