Monday, January 21, 2002
There's no doubt recruiting puts a unique brand of stress on prospective college football players. Recruiting boils down to
finding team’s kindredThis article is the second in a weekly series on college football recruiting. Articles will run each Monday until national letter of intent day (Feb. 6) along with the latest rankings and commitments of Hawaii's top prospects.By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comIt can be difficult on coaches, too, although most say they enjoy that part of their job. But the bottom line is their future employment depends largely on getting the right players.
Sometimes even their physical safety can depend on the approach they take while visiting a player in an unfamiliar area, where some people might not care that he's come to offer Joe All-American a scholarship and take him out of the 'hood. They might even resent it.
Before Vantz Singletary became the Hawaii defensive line coach more than three years ago, he recruited the inner-city of Chicago for Trinity College and Southern University. Singletary is a very large, African-American man who played football at Kansas State. But he said there were times he felt apprehensive in low-income black neighborhoods -- even though he grew up in one.
"Many times you put yourself at risk to gang activity. You have to go to some places you don't want to go, places where your car might not be where you parked it when you came back," he said. "I would always take another coach with me, a white coach. That combination, and with our trench coats and briefcases, that made the bad guys think we were undercover cops, maybe FBI. They didn't mess with us. They'd call us salt and pepper, Five-0, and alert the community that there were some unusual characters, probably law enforcement, in the area."
But once the gregarious Singletary gets into a home, no matter where it is, he's in his element.
"I love the interaction with the parents. I love to mingle, converse, talk about family, the ohana experience here in Hawaii," Singletary said. "If you want to bring someone into your football family, you talk to them about their family and tell them about your family. I find that very enjoyable."
Singletary said recruiting is the most important part of coaching.
"It's the bloodline to your football program," said Singletary, who, in addition to parts of Oahu, recruits his home area of Houston and parts of the southeast. "Without recruiting, the rest is meaningless. The players are the ones who win the games, and the game is really coming to a point where you're losing kids at early stages, not everyone stays around to be a senior. It's going to be more like basketball where a lot of players leave early. The Xs and Os, the strategy, that has all become secondary."
UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison also said he likes recruiting.
"The people side has always been more attractive to me, getting to know players and their families is an enjoyable part of the job," he said. "That, and the piecing together of the team, seeing how if unfolds over years, that's exciting for us as coaches."
He makes about 6-10 home visits a year. At this point of the recruiting season, most of the work is hosting prospects who are visiting the Warriors. Now is when the initial legwork of a positive in-home visit can pay off with a commitment.
"When we go to the homes, our job is to get them to come up and see who we are, if it's something that appeals to them," Morrison said. "Come see us and enjoy the weekend, see what the university is like, meet some of the players. We want to find out what questions they have and answer them.
"We talk story, and often end up talking about common friends," said Morrison, who was a longtime high school coach at Punahou and Roosevelt and in the southern California area.
Morrison said having been on the other side of the recruiting table as a high school coach helps him in his current duties.
"I think it helps me be aware of how much stress they're under. Sometimes you have to know when to back off, when the family is stressed out by the situation and needs some room," he said.
Singletary and Morrison said the most important skill in recruiting is the simplest. Or it should be.
"It's all about being yourself and being honest," Singletary said. "If you aren't, and you promise things that don't get delivered, it will catch up with you."
Morrison said head coach June Jones' recruiting philosophy helps the assistants do their job without unnecessary pressure.
"One of the good things about him is that he's not in this as a cutthroat thing," Morrison said of Jones. "He puts us in a position where we can just be who we are. We don't have to put on the salesman act. Be yourself. If you connect with the kid and the family, great. If you don't, don't beat yourself up over it."
Singletary said the most important aspect of recruiting is the personal touch.
"Some kids get caught up with the size of a scoreboard, the stadium, the marketing hype," he said. "And some of them really are getting money, cars, whatever from some schools.
"Others are the type who appreciate a personal, handwritten note rather than a mailout, or that when you call, you can tell them little things you noticed they did during the season, the ones that appreciate that you went to church with their family. Those are the ones we want, that we want to join our family."
HAWAII'S TOP PROSPECTS
The Star-Bulletin's top 10 college football prospects from Hawaii high schools are ranked by Jason Kaneshiro and Dave Reardon, after consultation with high school and college coaches. Other prospects are listed in alphabetical order. The list will be updated weekly until Feb. 6, national letter of intent day, when high school players can first make their commitments binding. Asterisks indicate verbal commitments. Players listed as Ath are being recruited as all-around athletes.
Player School Pos. Ht. Wt. Probable colleges 1. Jonathan Mapu Kahuku DE 6-3 250 Wash., Tenn., BYU, Hawaii 2. Brandon Ala Kamehameha DE 6-3 210 Ore., Wash., Hawaii 3. Mulivai Pula Kahuku RB 5-11 215 Utah, BYU, Hawaii 4. Enoka Lucas Kamehameha OL 6-3 285 Oregon* 5. Samson Satele Kailua OL 6-4 290 Hawaii* 6. Donny Mateaki Iolani DE 6-7 250 Washington* 7. Albert Ma'afala Kamehameha DL 6-2 270 Hawaii* 8. Inoke Funaki Kahuku Ath 6-0 180 Hawaii, BYU 9. Kaipo Patoc Mililani DE/LB 6-2 230 Hawaii* 10. Kalavi Blanchard Kahuku OL 6-4 290 Hawaii* Other prospects from Hawaii Jason Ching Punahou WR/DB 5-10 165 Brown, San Diego, Hawaii Ross Dickerson St. Louis SB 5-11 175 Hawaii* Tala Esera Kahuku DL 6-3 245 Hawaii* Ferron Fonoimoana Kahuku WR 5-8 165 BYU, Hawaii Taualai Fonoti St. Louis LB 6-1 240 Stanford* Marques Kaonohi Kailua OL 6-2 250 Hawaii* Kahai LaCount Kailua OL 6-3 300 Hawaii* Todd LaFountaine Punahou QB 6-0 185 Harvard Taleki Mailau Kailua Ath 5-10 190 Hawaii, Idaho St., West. Mont., Dixie Levi Manutai Kailua DL 6-2 264 Idaho St., Dixie, West. Mont. Felipo Mokofisi Kailua DL 6-2 220 Dixie Mesepa Reed St. Louis OL 6-5 237 Hawaii, UCLA Kekoa Reyes Waianae QB/DB 6-1 200 Dixie John Siofele St. Louis DL 6-0 255 Hawaii* Larry So'oalo Kailua TE 6-6 245 Idaho St., Dixie, Western Montana Tuika Tufaga Kahuku DL 6-1 220 Utah Dane Uperesa Punahou OL 6-5 315 Hawaii* Other University of Hawaii commitments
Player School Pos. Ht. Wt. Note Marco Chavez Palomar JC (Calif.) LB 6-3 245 Enrolled at UH Jeremiah Cockheran Chaffey JC (Calif.) WR 6-2 180 Reportedly timed at 4.27 in 40 Chad Kalilimoku Santa Ana JC (Calif.) LB 6-0 235 All-American JC from Roosevelt Kenny Patton St. Francis (Calif.) CB 6-0 175 Former Punahou player John West Yuba JC (Calif.) Ath 5-10 180 All-American JC from Leilehua Jason Whieldon Saddleback JC (Calif.) QB 6-1 190 Enrolled at UH Notes: Huntington Beach (Calif.) Edison CB A.J. Martinez is scheduled to visit Hawaii this weekend. The Orange County Player of the Year has already been to Colorado State and Oregon State and completed a visit to San Diego State yesterday. ... Kaimuki 2000 graduates DT Matt Faga (Fresno City College) and DE Darrell Tautofi (Dixie College) have visited UH, but no word as of yesterday on commitments. ... DL Fred Matua (Los Angeles Banning), who has made some top ten lists at his position, has taken Hawaii off his list and added Notre Dame. ... A report in the Provo Herald last week that WR Ferron Fonoimoana (Kahuku) had committed to BYU was inaccurate, according to Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai. ... Kahuku QB Inoke Funaki visits Hawaii next week. Mapu was at Tennessee and Funaki at BYU over the weekend.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin