Mike Cavanaugh tried.

But the competition was very strong.

A few years ago when Cav was still the University of Hawaii offensive line coach he mentioned some stud high school linemen on the Big Island.

Max Unger and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim were at Hawaii Prep Academy.

“;Isn't that where Bern Brostek coaches?”;

“;Yeah,”; he answered.

“;Good luck.”;

Cav, a pretty persuasive recruiter, might as well have been going up against the former Rams offensive lineman in a one-on-one drill. Brostek, an 'Iolani and Washington Huskies star back in the 1980s, could provide a direct path to the Pac-10 for anyone worthy of it.

And he did.

And they've proven worthy.

Unger, now an Oregon Duck, is a lock for All-American, and likely a first-round draft pick next spring—like Brostek nearly 20 years before him. As for Te'o-Nesheim, if you saw the Washington defensive lineman play against UH last year, I don't have to tell you anything.

Once, when he was still with the Rams, Brostek told me his post-NFL plan was to become a garbageman.

“;You get a workout and you finish early,”; he said.

Thankfully for Hawaii football (though not necessarily UH football) Brostek decided instead to share his knowledge and passion for the game with the next generation of big boys, on the Big Island. They include Unger and Te'o-Nesheim. Today the Star-Bulletin honors them and 22 others of Hawaii's best on our first Hawaii Grown College Football All-Star Team.

This collection judged the best of the locally produced players now in college is sure to spur discussion. The team was picked by Billy Hull, who has followed them all closely as the writer of our weekly Hawaii Grown report (while local UH players aren't featured weekly in HG, they are products of our state's prep ranks, too, so that's why they're included in consideration for this team, and Hull was also involved in UH football coverage).

While Unger was clearly the choice for offensive player of the year, USC linebacker Kaluka Maiava narrowly got the nod on defense.

The Baldwin grad got stiff competition from three linemen: Tyson Alualu (Cal/Saint Louis), David Veikune (Hawaii/Campbell) and Te'o-Nesheim. I leaned toward Alualu because of monster stats produced mostly as a defensive tackle.

Only one-fourth of the two dozen play for UH. And of those six, only two came to the Warriors straight out of high school with scholarships in hand.

Draw your own conclusions.

But rest assured Greg McMackin is a very active recruiter and there is a whole different culture now at Manoa when it comes to talent procurement. Let's call it proactive.

I've always felt college choice, athlete or not, is a very personal decision—and you can always come home, like Veikune, who went to Colorado out of high school.

Still, is it not reasonable for UH fans to expect the Warriors to convince at least half of the top 10 and top 20 to play for the home team? Imagine the O-line with Unger on it.

It's not like UH has to compete with any other school on the same land mass—but, ah, that is part of it, the allure of the unknown.

Let the debates begin.