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Schools lining up
for Lauvao

He shoots, he scores, he gets on the plane again.

Offensive lineman Shawn Sisifo Lauvao is quickly racking up mileage. Last weekend, he began a series of official visits by touring Cal with host Albert "Abu" Ma'afala.

This weekend, he heads to Tempe, Ariz., and the campus of Arizona State. Next month, the Farrington senior visits Boise State (Jan. 7), Oregon (Jan. 14) and Brigham Young (Jan. 21).

The All-Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East first-team selection went from being a fringe D-I prospect -- only Utah State and New Mexico State were seriously interested in the 6-foot-3, 310-pounder three weeks ago -- to one of the most coveted recruits in the state.

Despite the hectic schedule and careful maintenance of a 3.7 grade-point average, Lauvao is taking life one day at a time. Thursday night, he ran the court at Salt Lake District Park, playing pickup basketball with old friends.

Twenty-four hours later, he was en route to the airport for the flight to Tempe, still engulfed by images of his first trip.

"Cal was good. The coaching staff is really good. There's not too many Polynesian folks there," he said. "The D-line has a couple, but the O-line is all country guys."

That could change soon enough. Ma'afala transferred from Hawaii, redshirted and had successful knee surgery. Besides Lauvao, Cal is making a big push for two defensive standouts, Tyson Alualu (Saint Louis) and Mika Kane (Kamehameha). Both enjoyed their visits to Berkeley, as well.

For Lauvao, part of the puzzle includes the fickle nature of college recruiting. Hawaii showed no interest in him as an offensive lineman, but delivered a flurry of calls earlier this week.

Lauvao didn't begin playing football until his junior year, but now bench-presses 225 pounds 22 times -- a good number for a high school senior. He may not fit the profile of a UH offensive lineman. That didn't matter to UH's defensive braintrust.

"I got three calls from UH Monday," he said, noting another six or seven voicemail messages before that. The calls came from three coaches, all inquiring whether Lauvao would be willing to play defensive line.

Lauvao prefers O-line, by far.

So he keeps working. The day he got back from Cal was like no other day. Jet lag doesn't really exist in his world. "I wanted him to get rest. He got back at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and he went to lift weights," said Lauvao's mother, Lee.

"He has his little book of pros and cons. I told him, the moment you arrive at the airport, if they're late, you write that down," she said.

Cal offered Lauvao a scholarship while he visited. Arizona State appears to be on the verge of doing the same this weekend. "They said they're going to fly their head coach down to talk with him later," Lee said.

Cal and Arizona State are far from being the only D-I programs to hustle across the islands. San Diego State, with former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Ed White on staff, has made significant inroads.

The Aztecs haven't been this active in Hawaii since leaving the WAC for the Mountain West. Four local prospects are visiting San Diego this weekend: Trask Iosefa (Punahou), Ikaika Aken-Moleta (Kapolei), and Waika Spencer and Kane of Kamehameha.

White was very impressed with Iosefa, who played tackle during high school. White projects the 6-foot, 290-pound senior as a center. Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez, who got a good look at Iosefa during the HUB Goodwill Classic practices, compares Iosefa favorably to a current UH Warrior.

"He's further ahead right now than Derek Fa'avi was at his age," said Hernandez, who coached the Warrior center at Campbell.

Here are updates on some of Hawaii's top prospects, by position.

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Hawaii's Top College Prospects

A position-by-position update on some of the state's best high school players:

Offensive Line

Raphael Ieru of McKinley is not visiting San Diego State this weekend as planned. The trip was canceled when he forgot to fax his test scores. He has trips to Arizona State (Jan. 21) and Hawaii still lined up. He is 40 points away (SAT) from becoming a qualifier. Ieru hopes to become a graphic artist and ASU has a good program. Stanford and Arizona had also offered trips to the All-Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East first-team pick.

Kamehameha's Tyler Williams is also visiting SDSU, and will take a trip to Washington (Jan. 7) and Tennessee (Jan. 14). He may add UNLV to that list in January.

Kailua's Kainoa LaCount remains undecided. The 6-foot-7, 305-pound lineman is currently playing basketball for the Surfriders, averaging 20 points in his last two games.

Tight End

Waika Spencer is also visiting SDSU this weekend. The 6-4, 220-pound multi-sport standout suffered a knee injury during the state football tournament.

One of Spencer's teammates, Kamu Kapanui (6-0, 220) will visit SDSU in January. The Aztecs are interested in him as a fullback.

Running Back

Saint Louis' Kevin Sullivan returned from a visit to Air Force with a scholarship offer. The All-Interscholastic League of Honolulu first-team selection would be a good fit in the Falcons' flexbone option attack. His older brother, former Damien standout Billy Sullivan, played at Air Force for two years.

Kahuku's Micah Strickland averaged nearly 20 yards per carry during regular-season play, but dropped off the radar of many college recruiters for various reasons. However, San Diego State is showing moderate interest in him.

Quarterback

Another Crusader, Stanley Nihipali, is still on the bubble. A promising season was cut short by a shoulder injury, but he returned and played well in the HUB Classic, showing no effects of the injury. Oregon is the lone D-I school interested, along with three small colleges (Western Oregon, Redlands and Puget Sound). He's looking forward to going away for college.

Defensive Tackle

Mika Kane is visiting San Diego State this weekend, with Oregon State (Jan. 7) and Michigan State (tentatively Jan. 14) lined up. If national letter of intent day were today, his first pick would be Cal, followed by Oregon State, Michigan State and San Diego State. No word yet if new Florida coach Urban Meyer is going to make scholarship offers to Kane and Alualu.

If that were the case, Kane said he would be 50-50 between Cal and Florida.

Lahainaluna's stalwart defense was anchored by 6-1, 285-pound Fine Latu. The senior is drawing interest from Hawaii. He also played O-line for the Lunas, but Hawaii is looking far and wide for D-linemen.

Aiea's 1-2 combo of Rocky Savaiigaea and Malo Taumua are probably going in separate directions. Savaiigaea (6-3, 295), the West Defensive Player of the Game in the HUB Goodwill Classic, is still leaning heavily toward Hawaii.

Taumua (6-2, 295) will visit Utah next month, and Colorado has shown interest. He has family in both states. He began turning heads at the Hula Bowl clinic in January. He is very close to becoming a qualifier.

Defensive End

Jake Ingram graduated in June from Mililani and has not enrolled anywhere. He bulked up, adding 25 pounds, and worked out hard with a regimen that includes running stairs.

Oregon State is showing serious interest in the 6-3, 225 pounder. "He's for real," former teammate Sene Ma'afala said.

Linebacker

Castle's Blaze Soares is also visiting San Diego State this weekend. The 6-1, 210-pound speedster will also visit BYU (Jan. 14) and Hawaii (Jan. 21). He was the OIA Red East Defensive Player of the Year.

Leilehua's B.J. Fruean (6-2, 185) has interest from Colorado, Idaho and Hawaii. Much hinges on his SAT results.

Cornerback

Kahuku playmaker Al Afalava will visit BYU (Dec. 21), Oregon State (Jan. 7) and Washington (Jan. 14). He also drew interest from Tennessee and Hawaii.

Safety

Kapolei's Kainoa Kaheaku-Enhada is entering the bigger picture for recruiters after scoring higher than he had expected on tests. Colorado State has remained in close contact with the 6-1, 195-pound senior.

Kaiser's Shannon Wise is fielding much more interest since the HUB Classic. San Diego State spoke with him Monday, and Washington called Friday. Washington is interested in Wise, who played quarterback and defensive end, on defense. Wise (6-1, 180) prefers quarterback, but expects to play outside linebacker or safety at the next level. With a 3.5 GPA and 860 SAT, he is already a qualifier.

Washington will meet with Wise this week.

On The Bubble

Ma'afala, a 6-1, 372-pound guard, is still attracting interest from Oregon State as a nose guard. Much will depend on his improving academics.

"Sene's done great at practice," HUB Goodwill Classic West squad co-coach Dean Nakagawa said. "He just manhandled people."

Verbal Commits

Pac-Five linebacker Brashton Satele is a strong verbal commit to Hawaii. ... Baldwin linebacker Kaluka Maiava committed to USC during the summer.