[ WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Hawaii shuffling
the football deckDickerson and LaCount will try
their hands at positions with
less-crowded waiting lines
Two players will try positions where the lines to the playing field are shorter when Hawaii opens spring football practice Tuesday.
Sophomore offensive lineman Kahai LaCount moves across to defensive tackle and sophomore slotback Ross Dickerson slides out to wide receiver, Warriors coach June Jones said yesterday.
Both players move from positions that are jammed with experienced returnees to spots were playing time might be more available.
LaCount got into only two games last year as a backup offensive lineman.
"He's very athletic and talented and he's so strong, he might be a good defensive tackle," Jones said of LaCount, a Kailua graduate who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 308 pounds on UH's spring roster.
Virtually everyone who played on the offensive line in 2003 is back this year, but four of Hawaii's six top defensive tackles completed their eligibility -- and that could be five if Lui Fuga is not granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Dickerson (5-10, 172) played in nine games last year, starting two. The Saint Louis grad caught eight passes for 57 yards, rushed three times for 25 yards and returned 17 kickoffs for 408 yards, including a 100-yard TD.
The Warriors coaches feel Dickerson is ready to make more contributions. But UH is loaded at both slotback positions, with Chad Owens, Britton Komine, Nate Ilaoa and Gerald Welch all coming back this season.
Hawaii will look at Dickerson at the right wide receiver, or "Z" position, that departed senior Jeremiah Cockheran played last year.
"This is the time to mess around with stuff like that," receivers coach Ron Lee said. "We want to do whatever we can to get the best people on the field, and we're hoping that position will fit for him. He's working hard and is excited about it, but it will be very competitive there, too."
In other UH football news:
» Ilaoa, who missed all but the first game of last season with a knee injury, won't risk re-injury this month."He's getting well, but he won't participate this spring," Jones said. "But I would say he'll be as good as new by the fall."
» Safeties Leonard Peters and A.J. Martinez, who both underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, are also excused this spring, Jones said.
Linebacker Watson Ho'ohuli is also not due back until fall camp as he rehabs from knee surgery.
» Seniors Komine, Owens and quarterback Tim Chang are among veterans who won't get many, if any, team reps, while the coaches get a look at younger players, Jones added.
» In addition to Fuga, UH is petitioning the NCAA for medical hardship waivers for Ilaoa, receiver Denny Flanagan, cornerback Kenny Patton, punter Tim Wright and linebacker Lincoln Manutai.
» Receiver LaMont Williams has returned to the team after leaving last year for academic reasons. He is listed as a sophomore.
Offensive lineman Ryan Santos, who left the team late last season, does not appear on the spring roster.