Wednesday, November 28, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Wide-open offense The Hawaii football team has secured a verbal commitment from Jason Whieldon, an all-Mission Conference quarterback from Saddleback (Calif.) Junior College.
attracts QB Whieldon
The junior college passer commits
to Hawaii and the run-and-shootBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comWhieldon (6 feet 1, 190 pounds) will have three years of eligibility to play two. He said he chose UH over New Mexico and Montana.
"The program has really picked up," said Whieldon, who watched Hawaii's 52-51 victory over Miami (Ohio) on television two weeks ago. "They've got a great offense and I like the idea of operating out of the shotgun and the run-and-shoot."
Whieldon said the Gauchos run a similar offense that often uses four wide receivers. Saddleback, which plays College of the Canyons in the Western State Bowl on Saturday, went 7-3 to finish second in the Mission Conference. Whieldon passed for 16 touchdowns with seven interceptions and over 2,300 yards during the regular season.
He broke his left (non-throwing) hand during the 2000 season and missed four games as Saddleback went 3-7.
Whieldon made a recruiting visit to Hawaii two years ago while in high school, but "the timing wasn't right," he said.
The prospective business major plans to sign a letter of intent Dec. 19 and enroll at UH for the spring semester. He said he is looking forward to competing with Warrior holdover quarterbacks Tim Chang, Jeff Rhode and Shawn Withy-Allen for the starting spot which will be vacated by departing senior Nick Rolovich.
"I'm glad I'll be there in the spring so I can start learning the offense as soon as possible," Whieldon said.
The Warriors might sign one or two more quarterbacks, as backup Jared Flint is also a senior.
Whieldon is Hawaii's second verbal commitment. Samson Satele, an offensive lineman from Kailua High School, has also said he will sign with the Warriors.
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