Tuesday, August 10, 1999

’Bows wait to
see who makes
the grade

Coach June Jones said most
newcomers would be OK'd for
today's first practice, but others
might not be cleared until
the 11th hour

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Trying to sort through all the last-second paperwork has left June Jones feeling more like a filing clerk than a coach.

The head man for the Hawaii football team spent a good part of yesterday trying to figure out who would take part in this afternoon's newcomers' workout at Cooke Field.

"The real challenge is trying to figure out who is eligible, who might be eligible and who won't be eligible among our junior college guys," Jones said. "We think most of the guys will make it, but we might not know on some of them for a couple of weeks."

Hawaii already has asked one junior college prospect to stay home after he failed a class needed for his eligibility.

"We have a few other players who also need to receive their clearance from the NCAA, but we think they'll be fine," Jones said. "You always have a couple of guys you have to worry about, but overall we feel most of our top recruits will be in camp."

That includes wide receiver Attrice Brooks. The San Francisco City College transfer is expected to report today. If he clears the academic waiver wire, Brooks could be the big-play receiver Hawaii will need for Jones' run-and-shoot to be effective.

"He certainly looks the part," Jones said of the 6-foot-5, 210-pounder. "You never know until you get them on the field, but we believe Brooks can play right away for us."

Jones said the veterans' due date is tomorrow. There is a possible academic casualty or two among the veterans, but Jones expects most everyone to be on the field for Thursday's first official two-a-days practice.

"We've got a lot of ground to cover over the next three weeks," Jones said. "We open against a very good USC team, so our work is cut out for us. It will probably take a few games before everyone gets comfortable with what we're trying to get done."

Jones already landed a talented quarterback this off-season. Former Brigham Young signal-caller Kevin Gilbride, who transferred to Hawaii last week, is the type of player Jones can attract.

At this point, senior quarterbacks Dan Robinson and Josh Skinner appear to be one-two on the depth chart, but look for freshman Mike Harrison to be given plenty of opportunity to make an impact this season.

"Most of our new players will be given a hard look over the next few weeks," Jones said. "We expect a lot of them will be playing right away."

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