National Signing Day took place Wednesday and the University of Hawaii laid out its list of new recruits, which features a pretty varied group and some potentially breakout stars. It’s not a class that has picked up any national recognition,
National Signing Day took place Wednesday and the University of Hawaii laid out its list of new recruits, which features a pretty varied group and some potentially breakout stars. It’s not a class that has picked up any national recognition, but head coach Nick Rolovich had an abbreviated amount of time to put everything together. He’s very high on the class, but we’ll have to wait and see whether they can live up to his optimism.
The move from high school to college, while still a major step up, isn’t quite as drastic as college to the pros. So it’s a little bit easier to project who might be effective in college, making the recruiting class rankings usually pretty good.
Last year, Alabama and Clemson each finished in the top four recruiting classes nationally and this year the two faced off in the national title game. Oklahoma and Ohio State each finished top five in this season’s final polls and each has had exceptional recruiting classes the past two years.
Hawaii never gets much love nationally in the recruiting process. The best class the team compiled recently was in 2013 when it nabbed a pair of four-star recruits — standout defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii and quarterback Aaron Zwahlen, who still has all his eligibility after a two-year mission and redshirting in 2015. But the ‘Bows are often piecing together some in-state stars and some second-tier west coast players who don’t mind giving up the TV exposure.
This year isn’t much different. So far, running back Freddie Holly is the most highly touted of the commits. Holly comes over from Norte Vista High School in Riverside, Calif.
Rolovich did a good job helping both sides of the ball in-state, grabbing Kahuku safety Keala Santiago and Mililani wide receiver Kala Timoteo. He also added Leilehua defensive lineman Netane Muti and Iolani offensive lineman Josh Hauani’o.
Former Saint Louis offensive lineman Fred Ulu-Perry is also on his way to Manoa after transferring from UCLA. He’ll be good to go for the 2017 season.
All that local talent relates to the concept of “defending Pride Rock” that Rolovich has instituted since his arrival. He’s hoping to tap into the local pride to re-elevate Hawaii football to a place of prominence.
It worked to some degree, but most of the state’s top players opted to head to bigger schools on the west coast. Timoteo is the only one of the 12 Hawaii high school products in ESPN’s Top 300 recruiting list that committed to UH.
Time will tell whether this class can reinvigorate the Hawaii program to conference significance. There are some good pieces there, but it’s more about changing the culture than just acquiring talent at this point. One good recruiting class and one good season is sometimes all it takes to reverse negativity.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
