Jones wonders
where Kahuku is

It's a case of he-said, he-said.

On one side, there was Hawaii football coach June Jones intimating that players at Kahuku High School are advised against signing with the Warriors.

On the other, Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai, who denies exerting such influence on his players.

The controversy got started when Jones commented on the lack of Kahuku products among the Warriors' recruits during a press conference announcing UH's incoming class yesterday.

"We have never gotten the top players from Kahuku since I've been here," Jones said, during the press conference. "That kind of says what I'm talking about."

That got Livai's phone ringing with media members seeking a response and put the Kahuku coach on the defensive.

"We'd love to have some kids stay in Hawaii if they're in the mix of choices," Livai said last night.

"One thing I don't want to get caught up in is to be blamed for forcing a kid to go some place and it doesn't work out. That's the last thing I need. ... My job is to get as many kids to college as possible and we have improved that this year."

Kahuku, a local football power that annually sends a sizable group of seniors to Division I colleges, had eight players sign national letters of intent on Wednesday. All of those Red Raiders are headed to mainland schools.

"Those kids know and we get the word to them that if they want to stay home, we've got a scholarship," Jones said. "At the same time, we've wasted five years working hard on opening up an avenue for a lot of those kids and they get pushed to the mainland. In some of the situations, I don't think it's in the best interest of the kid."

Livai said this year's Kahuku seniors had not been offered scholarships by UH.

"For my knowledge, (UH) didn't offer any of our kids any scholarships," Livai said. "January is the month for recruiting, none of their staff came to Kahuku. So where is this coming from?"

UH had several Kahuku products on its roster this season, including defensive backs Leonard Peters and George Perry, offensive lineman Tala Esera and running back Kala Latuselu.

"We have had some great kids from Kahuku," Jones said. "The bottom line is a lot of times they're directed another way."

Kahuku graduate Jeremy Perry, George's younger brother, was in the middle of a tight recruiting battle last year and said the Kahuku coaches didn't influence his decision to sign with Oregon State.

The All-State offensive lineman initially committed to Arizona, then signed a national letter of intent with UH but didn't send it in. He later signed with OSU, where he redshirted this past season.

Perry said he asked the Kahuku coaches to hold off on submitting his letter to the Warriors after he signed it.

"My coaches were about to send it in, and I told them to just hold it because I still needed to think because I really wanted to go away," Perry said. "I guess it made it look like we were getting steered away.

"There was a lot of stuff going through my head. It wasn't the coaches' decision, it was strictly mine."

After sitting out his first year with the Beavers, Perry said he's hoping to start at OSU in the fall and has no regrets about his decision to go away.

"When you leave it's hard, but you know you can always go back home, it's not going anywhere," he said. "You only live life once and this is an experience. I'm happy with my decision. The weather's not all that nice, but school-wise and on-the-field-wise it's been real good."