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Tuesday, February 1, 2000
Rainbows
stocking up on top
local recruits
It's the best the Hawaii
football team has done
since joining the WACKahuku players commit to Utah
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinIt's hard to say how well the University of Hawaii football team is doing in recruiting on the national scene because so many of the verbal commitments are from local players.
The latest two of the reported 14 island high school recruits expected to join the Rainbows' program are Kahuku High wide receiver Orlando Wong and defensive back Leonard Peters. These two are the first Red Raider players to join second-year Hawaii head coach June Jones' program.
"I thought maybe one more of our guys would go to UH, we'll see," Red Raiders head coach Siuaki Livai said last night. "I'm happy for both of those guys. I believe Orlando is going to go on a mission first. That was part of the deal. He is a great prospect."
Wong not only played quarterback and wide receiver for Kahuku, he also punted and returned kicks. Wong was reportedly recruited by Florida State, but the Seminoles backed off after learning his family wanted him to go on a mission first.
This is the first time since Hawaii joined the WAC in 1979 that the Rainbows have done so well on the local scene, but how does that translate nationally?
Tomorrow is the first day recruits can sign their national letter of intent. The Rainbows are currently rated second in the Western Athletic Conference and No. 61 in the nation in recruiting, according to the Website Rivals.com, the company that sponsors the Hula Bowl on Maui.
So far, the top two recruits verbally committing to UH are St. Louis School quarterback Timmy Chang and Iolani School offensive lineman Uriah Moenoa. Chang is considered the 21st-best quarterback in the country and received a rating of three stars by Rivals.com. The highest-rating is five stars. Moenoa also received three stars and is rated the 50th-best offensive lineman nationally.
From the reported 24 verbal commitments, only three other UH recruits have more than a one-star rating. They are Orange Coast (Calif.) College quarterback Jared Flint, Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) College defensive back Kelvin Millhouse and Radford High safety Matthew Manuma. These three recruits have a two-star rating.
Only Texas Christian has a higher ranking in the WAC. The Horned Frogs are doing quite well, according to Rivals.com, with a No. 34 rating. This coming campaign is the last year TCU will be in the WAC. The Frogs join Conference USA in 2001.
Jones said coming into this recruiting season that he wanted to sign quarterbacks, offensive and defensive linemen, and defensive backs. So far, he has brought on board seven offensive linemen, including Michael Littlefield of Mt. San Antonio College.
The Rainbows expect to sign four quarterbacks, including Flint and Nick Rolovich, who are already enrolled in school. Hawaii's top defensive prospect could be Kamehameha School's Houston Ala. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder played defensive end in high school, but could be shifted to linebacker next season.
Manuma and Millhouse are expected to help in the defensive secondary. The top two wide receivers are Wong and St. Louis School standout Gerald Welch. It was reported that Welch might be wavering and headed to Washington State of the Pac-10. But school officials confirmed yesterday that Welch would be staying home.
The University of Utah hasn't done as well in local recruiting as in recent campaigns, but the Utes still landed the top running back in the state. Kahuku’s Latuselu,
Olevao will play
for Utah UtesKahuku High head coach Siuaki Livai confirmed last night that OIA Offensive Player of the Year Kala Latuselu and receiver Fakaloloma Olevao - whose older brother, Kautai, is a linebacker for the Utes - will sign tomorrow to play for Utah head coach Ron McBride.
St. Louis School offensive lineman Iosefa Robins already committed to Utah earlier this month.
In all, only three Hawaii high school players are expected to sign with Utah this season. Brigham Young landed one and that was Kailua High running back Rocky Alo. He verbally committed to the Cougars over the weekend.
By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin
Rainbow recruits
University of Hawaii football team's verbal commitments:
Name Pos. School Ht. Wt. Houston Ala LB Kamehameha 6-1 215 Isaiah Alameda LB Kamehameha 6-1 215 Justin Ayat PK Kamehameha 5-11 195 Tim Chang QB St. Louis 6-2 185 Jonathan Ekno OL Servite, Anaheim, Calif. 6-6 280 Abraham Elimimian DB Crenshaw, Los Angeles 5-10 180 Jared Flint QB Orange Coast CC 6-6 210 Tyson Hampton CB Florin H.S., Sacramento, Calif. 6-0 182 Watson Hoohuli LB Kamehameha 6-0 215 William Jackson OL Cass Tech, Detroit 6-3 280 Chad Kahale OL St. Louis 6-3 300 Chad Kapanui QB/DB Roosevelt 6-0 207 Phil Kauffman OL St. Louis 6-1 275 Greg Kleidon P Santa Monica JC 6-1 190 Michael Littlefield OL Mt. San Antonio College, Calif. 6-2 290 Matt Manuma QB Radford 6-1 195 Kelvin Millhouse DB Mount San Antonio College 6-1 190 Uriah Moenoa OL Iolani 6-3 330 Leonard Peters DB Kahuku 6-1 175 Nick Rolovich QB City College of San Francisco 6-2 210 Ryan Santos OL Mililani 6-5 292 Gerald Welch WR St. Louis 5-9 180 Ken Witherspoon QB/LB Cass Tech, Detroit 6-2 227 Orlando Wong WR Kahuku 6-0 180
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