Another big recruiting weekend starts tonight for Hawaii. UH hosts about a dozen
recruits this weekendBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThe Warriors are hosting about a dozen prospects, including five players from Kahuku who were members of the Raiders' 2001 state championship team.
Feb. 5 is the first day players can make their commitments binding.
Safety Viliami Nauahi, the Star-Bulletin's No. 3 prospect in the state, is among the group at Manoa this weekend. Reports out of the Provo, Utah, area that Nauahi had committed to Brigham Young while visiting there last week were exaggerated, and Nauahi also plans to visit Penn State next week.
The other four Raiders at UH this week are cornerback George Perry (prospect No. 13, who has already committed to the Warriors), offensive lineman Joseph Napeahi (No. 16), defensive back Tu Tui (No. 18), and linebacker David Alisa (No. 19).
Chris Cole is one of the most intriguing visitors from out of town this week. At Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School, Cole was named South Coast League MVP - as a 5-foot-9, 206-pound noseguard. He made 84 tackles, including 12 sacks.
Cole has been offered a scholarship by UH, which would probably move him to linebacker. San Jose State and Utah are also in the mix, but Cole has visited neither school, according to a PacWestFootball.com report.
Centennial High School (Corona, Calif.) cornerback Ray Bass, one of the fastest players in California and the brother of UH junior running back Mike Bass, has moved his Hawaii visit up a week and will also be in town tomorrow, according to his mother, Cynthia. She added that he might visit Washington State or Nebraska next week.
This is also an important weekend for many prospective college student-athletes because the SAT test will be given tomorrow.
Tharp update: Quarterback Taylor Tharp (Fairview, Denver) has boiled it down to Boise State and Hawaii (Wyoming and Washington State are now out of the mix), and expects to declare his decision after Sunday's Super Bowl - a decision that has not been made, he said yesterday.
"I really don't consider either school a favorite," Tharp said. "It's hard for me, they're both great schools. At one point I'm leaning toward one, another leaning toward the other. Both offenses are good. I played in a spread offense and both have what I'm looking for."
UH fans don't have to worry about Boise State's blue field being the deciding factor.
"My favorite color is red," he said.
In the Navy: Kamehameha offensive lineman Reyn Kaupiko, who chose Navy over Air Force, never thought of himself as the military type.
"I'm surprised this is what God had in store for me," he said. "But I felt so at home on my trip to Annapolis. I'm anxious to go up there and become a part of the tradition of the Naval Academy."
Kaupiko, who is 6 feet and 265 pounds, said he will attend the academy's prep school his first year.
"He's very disciplined and works hard in the classroom and the weight room," his father, Brian Kaupiko said. "I think Kenny Niumatalolo was a big influence. They recruited Reyn hard, and he enjoyed meeting with Kenny."
Niumatalolo is a former Radford and UH quarterback who is Navy's offensive coordinator. Navy's head coach is former Hawaii offensive coordinator Paul Johnson.
Togiai to UNLV: Willie Togiai, an All-American junior college safety from Palomar College in San Diego, has chosen Nevada-Las Vegas over Hawaii, according to his coach, Joe Early.
"He made his choice a couple days ago," Early said.
Togiai made an official visit to UH last weekend and was offered a scholarship by the Warriors.
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SAN DIEGO >> Lynn Swann looks like he could still play. Old MVPs get together
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comEmmitt Smith says he knows he still can.
And Larry Csonka looks like a used-car salesman, perhaps trying to peddle the 1972 Dodge Charger he won as the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl VIII.
The three headlined yesterday's interview session at the San Diego Convention Center, which focused on the memories of winning the game's top honor. Former NFL quarterback Phil Simms emceed the event, held in conjunction with Cadillac's sponsorship of the Super Bowl MVP award.
"I'll tell you how the game has changed since '72," said Csonka, the Hall of Fame running back for the Miami Dolphins. "When we were in New Orleans, it took us two days to find our hotels. Now we have two practices just for the coin flip."
Csonka and 1972 teammates Bob Griese, Larry Little, Jim Langer, Nick Buoniconti and Paul Warfield will participate in Sunday's pregame coin toss for Super Bowl XXXVII. Also in the group will be Don Shula, who coached the Dolphins to an undefeated season that included the 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Swann, now a television commentator, was the MVP of Super Bowl X. The wide receiver helped the Pittsburgh Steelers dominate in the 1970s with six consecutive AFC Central titles and four Super Bowl championships in six years.
This year's MVP has a choice of three Cadillacs, valued up to $75,000. Swann said he had three choices as well in 1976 of AMC cars: Gremlin, Hornet or Pacer.
"And I don't know if I'd be drafted now," said Swann, the No. 1 draft pick by the Steelers in 1974. "I don't have the size or the speed of the players today."
Smith, the 1994 MVP, is still under contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He said he would weigh his options for next season but "I just want to play football," he said.
He denied a report in yesterday's Dallas Morning News that had Smith agreeing to a backup role with the Cowboys. He said he had not spoken with anyone from the Dallas coaching staff since the season ended.
"The future is still in the Cowboys' hands," said Smith. "My commitment is to Dallas."
Also sharing his MVP memories yesterday was New England quarterback Tom Brady, who won last year's award. He benefited from Cadillac's inaugural sponsorship and has been driving an Escalade.
"It is the first car I've ever owned," said Brady.
MVP voting: Fans can vote online for the MVP award beginning in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game at Superbowl.com. The fan vote counts for about 20 percent.
Fans will also have the chance to vote for which Cadillac model the MVP will choose on Monday. Those correctly selecting the MVP and the car will be entered to win a trip for two to Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston.
Gearing up: Tampa Bay defensive back Brian Kelly was a fan of Jerry Rice's when growing up. Sunday the 27-year-old Kelly will get up close and personal with Rice, the 40-year-old receiver for the Oakland Raiders.
"I watched him for a long time with the 49ers," Kelly said yesterday. "It will be nice to go up against him. You don't expect guys to play this long, but that is a tribute to him to keep his body in shape and still have the drive to want to play football for 18 years."
Top billing: The billboards around town are dominated by the "Raider Nation" and Oakland's "Commitment to Excellence."
But Tampa Bay, with the NFL's top defense, is not letting the Silver and Black hype get in the way.
"The Raiders' offense is good," Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp said of Oakland's top-ranked offense. "They're like the old Cowboys. When you're good, you just line up and go.
"We've got the finest defense in the NFL over the last six years. I think we're building something, but championships are what build legacies and that's what we're here for."
Back to you: Oakland running back Jon Ritchie said he is concerned about the Buccaneers' defense.
"They're so solid everywhere," Ritchie said yesterday. "They created a defense that is the hot look in the league right now - The Tampa Nine.
"They have guys who can put a lot of pressure on the quarterback as well as stopping the run. They don't give you anything easy, that's for sure. They know where to be and when to be there."
Ritchie's father was stationed in San Diego in the early 1960s and "I was like negative 14 back then."
On tap: Today's agenda includes rehearsals for the pregame show and National Anthem. Pregame performers are Carlos Santana, Michelle Branch and Destiny's Child's Beyonce Knowles, while the Dixie Chicks will perform the anthem.
The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will also be announced today by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
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Players like Brigham Young-Hawaii scoring leader David Evans are only supposed to come around once in a lifetime. Foyle lighting up
Seasiders’ record bookBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comIf that is true, life is short up in Laie.
Seasiders forward Alexus Foyle is as different from Evans as can be - Evans was an assassin from beyond the arc, while Foyle gets his points off flashy dunks and hard-earned points in the paint - but is challenging the shooter's single-season record for points per game. In the 1999-00 season, Evans scored 27.9 points per game to lead the nation and break his school record of 23.0 ppg the previous season.
After 11 games, Foyle is just behind Evans' pace at 26.0 ppg and is second in the nation behind Angel Figueroa of Dowling (29.4 ppg).
"He is getting more and more into the system," Ken Wagner said. "And I think the more a player stays in the system the fewer bad shots they will take in the long run. David Evans was always in the top 10 in field goal percentage and Flex is playing really well inside. They are completely different players."
Although Wagner admits his system has something to do with Foyle's fast start, he says that his offense is merely a scheme that is designed to win games, not have a player lead the nation in scoring.
Hawaii Pacific coach Russell Dung, who takes his team to the North Shore to try to stop Foyle tonight, agrees. Foyle scored 29 - 20 in the first half - against the Sea Warriors two weeks ago.
"It is just a matter of how recruits pan out," Dung said. "David Evans was a four-year player, went on a mission and came back more mature. I think that (leading the nation in scoring) was more a product of David Evans than any system, but Ken Wagner is a very good coach and if he has a good scorer he gets the ball into his hands."
But trying to get to the bottom of how a school can feature one of the nation's leading scorers twice in a span of three years only brings you back to the first fundamental rule of basketball.
"Good players make coaching easier," Wagner said. "I don't really do that intentionally. If you have someone special they tend to stand out."
And Foyle has already proved to be special, scoring more than 25 points in seven of the Seasiders' 11 games and torching Western New Mexico for 35 and 34 points in consecutive games.
"He's a talented player," Dung said. "I haven't seen him have a bad game yet. He is just simply a talented and gifted athlete who we are going to have to contain, and I say contain because you can't entirely shut him down. I think our guys reacted too late to him last time."
Chutes and ladders: Hawaii-Hilo was the biggest mover in the latest West region men's basketball poll, jumping from No. 8 to No. 3 after splitting a pair of home games with Chaminade. Chaminade remains unranked.
Hawaii Pacific had the biggest drop in the poll, plummeting from No. 2 behind Humboldt State to No. 9. A road loss to unranked Western New Mexico erased the first win by a road team at Montana State-Billings in 38 tries.
The Sea Warriors' drop is significant because they went from the top of the rankings to out of the top eight. The top eight teams in the final poll at the end of the season earn berths to the regional tournament.
The champions of the Pacific West Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Conference receive automatic berths.
Brigham Young-Hawaii is third in the conference, but fifth in the regional poll with a 9-2 record.
Cal State San Bernardino (9-4) is second in the poll, Cal Poly Pomona (10-3) is fourth, Cal State Bakersfield (10-3) is sixth, Western Washington (9-5) is seventh, Seattle Pacific (6-5) is eighth, and Alaska-Fairbanks (11-4, two losses to HPU) is 10th.
Chasing the Mustangs: Defending champion Western New Mexico will start the softball season Feb. 3 as the team to beat, getting 50 points to lead the conference coaches' poll yesterday.
The Mustangs got each of the first-place votes in the poll, which worked on a 10-8-6-4-2 scale with coaches not able to vote for their own team.
Hawaii-Hilo and Hawaii Pacific were chosen as the teams most likely to challenge the Mustangs, with the Vulcans getting 42 points and the Sea Warriors receiving 32.
Chaminade (24 points) is expected to finish fourth just ahead of Brigham Young-Hawaii (20 points). Montana State-Billings is supposed to finish last, getting only 12 points from the coaches.