[ WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii linebacker Keani Alapa "makes the whole thing work" on defense, according to UH assistant George Lumpkin.
‘Silent leader’
anchors UH defenseSoft-spoken linebacker
Keani Alapa is among
18 departing seniors
There's a difference between having something to say and knowing when to say it.
For much of his first four years with the Hawaii football team, Keani Alapa was a regular contributor in the Warriors' linebacker unit, but was content to keep to himself and play a supporting role to the team's upperclassmen.
"I was a young guy around guys who were really established and who were really great leaders," Alapa recalled earlier this week. "I didn't want to overstep my boundaries, so I just sat back and learned and just waited for my time."
Now a fifth-year senior, Alapa still isn't the most vocal member of the UH defense, but he knows when to speak his mind and has claimed his place as a leader for the unit.
"He's the silent leader of the bunch," UH defensive coordinator George Lumpkin said. "People really respect him because he's really smart and he knows where players are supposed to be. He sees the big picture, so he's a special guy."
Alapa will be among 18 Warriors taking the annual senior walk around Aloha Stadium following their regular-season finale against Boise State tomorrow night. He is one of eight seniors completing five-year careers in the program.
The UH defense enters tomorrow's game coming off perhaps its best performance of the year in a 37-29 win over Alabama last week. And the Warriors will need another inspired outing to slow down a powerful Boise State attack.
"We're going to have to play the best game we've played all year to beat them," Alapa said. "The senior walk, I'll be lucky if I'm walking because I should be really tired after the game."
After tomorrow's game, the Warriors will prepare for a matchup with Houston in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day. Then Alapa will walk away from the game.
"This is it for me," he said. "I feel like an old man already."
The Kamehameha graduate from Kaaawa was part of UH head coach June Jones' first class of freshmen in 1999. With veterans Jeff Ulbrich, Yaphet Warren and Robert Kemfort entrenched at the linebacker positions, Alapa redshirted his first year in the program. But Lumpkin already saw promise in the youngster.
"If any of those guys had gotten hurt, Keani was the next guy going in," Lumpkin said.
"He wasn't as strong as he is now and he didn't know (the defense) quite as well, but he knew it better than anybody else and he played it better than anybody else other than (the starters)."
He had his season cut short by a knee injury in 2000 and started three games as a sophomore. He played in all 14 games last year, all as a backup behind veterans Chris Brown, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Matt Wright. He finished with 39 tackles and four sacks and blocked a punt in a win over San Diego State.
As a senior, Alapa's experience and football intellect have made him an integral part of the defensive scheme. He ranks sixth on the team in tackles with a career-high 62 and has two sacks this season. But his contributions extend beyond the stat sheet.
"He kind of makes the whole thing work, he's always where he's supposed to be," Lumpkin said. "When he's not in there things still work, but it's not as smooth as when he is in there."
Seeing the big picture away from football has also helped him balance life as a student-athlete.
Alapa was an academic All-Western Athletic Conference selection last year and is set to pick up his diploma later this month with a degree in psychology.
Alapa's girlfriend, UH basketball player Milia Macfarlane, credits him for teaching her how to handle the demands of academics and athletics.
"He knows what it's like to have to balance our lives," she said. "That includes the schooling, athletics and a little bit of a social life and family life. When he is in each part of those four aspects of his life, he's devoted 100 percent to each of them. ... He just teaches me how to balance our lives in a way where we'll make time for the important things."
With two games left on the schedule, Alapa knows his days as a UH football player will soon be a memory and he's taking the time to enjoy what's left with his teammates.
"I know he's just cherishing these lasting moments while he can spend time with the guys," Macfarlane said. "Because I think he realizes it's coming to an end right now."
