Friday, February 1, 2002
A.J. Martinez, a standout defensive back from Southern California, has accepted a football scholarship offer from Hawaii. Martinez accepts
UH’s offer
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comMartinez, a 6-foot 185-pounder from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., was named the back of the year in Orange County by the Los Angeles Times, which also selected him for its All-Region team.
He was also a first-team All-California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section selection.
"He's one of the best players we've ever had," Edison coach Dave White said. "He did a little bit of everything for us. ... He's very fast and very athletic."
Kailua High head coach Darrin Johnson confirmed last night that offensive tackle Larry So'oalo accepted a scholarship from Utah's Ron McBride. The 6-4, 310-pounder gives McBride another 'in' with a local school.
"It's the first player he has recruited from us," Johnson said of McBride. "He realizes we have some good players coming up through the ranks, including Larry's brother, Pat, so he was very excited to get Larry."
As for Martinez, he played cornerback on defense and running back on offense for Edison. He also returned kicks and handled punting chores. White said Martinez runs the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds.
But White said Martinez's primary role was on defense, where he was assigned to cover the opponent's best receiver.
"He's an excellent cover corner," White said.
Martinez helped lead Edison to the CIF Southern Section championship game, where it lost to Poly (Long Beach).
Martinez picked Hawaii over San Diego State. Wednesday is the first day high school recruits can sign letters of intent.
Martinez would bolster a Hawaii secondary that lost safeties Nate Jackson, Jacob Espiau and Robert Grant to graduation.
The situation surrounding Martinez's teammate, wide receiver Denny Flanagan, is less clear.
Flanagan, who holds most of Edison's receiving records, called Hawaii coaches to inform them that he would commit to San Diego State. But when he called Aztec coaches, they told him they didn't have a scholarship available. By the time he got back in touch with UH coaches, they had offered his scholarship to another player.
White said both schools told Flanagan they would know today if they have a scholarship to offer.
Hawaii School Web Sites