HONOLULU – The University of Hawaii announced a signing day haul of 23 players on Wednesday, and while the signings filled some holes for the Rainbow Warriors, none of those committing to the ‘Bows played high school football in the state.
The signees represent seven states — California, Arizona, Oregon, Arkansas, Idaho, Virginia, Washington — as well as American Samoa and Canada. However, none from the Aloha State. Acording to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, its the first time Hawaii has been shut out in local recruiting in more than 20 years.
Kahuku linebacker Kesi Ah Hoy was previously committed to Hawaii, but the three-star linebacker flipped to Oregon State on signing day.
Nonetheless, head coach Nick Rolovich was happy with the result.
“I feel really good about the guys who wanted to come play here, guys who had multiple offers from great schools but they felt something special in Hawaii on their visit,” Rolovich said. “Especially ending with three wins, I think it was important for them to see the positive direction that we’re moving. I think this class is fairly balanced we’re really spread out.”
Among the 23 signees are 19 high school standouts and four junior college transfers. Ten of the signees are listed as offensive players and 13 as defensive. Among the position breakdown are six defensive backs, five defensive linemen, four offensive linemen, three wide receivers, two linebackers, two running backs, and one tight end.
UH fulfilled its need on defense with nearly half of the class either linemen or in the secondary. The day concluded with one of the biggest surprises, with the signing of Vista Murrieta defensive lineman Anthony Mermea, who followed his teammate tight end Kade Greeley to Hawaii.
A total of seven prospects picked UH over Power 5 schools including linebacker Paul Scott – regarded as one of the top linebackers in the state of California – who picked UH over Cal. Two of the top recruits in American Samoa also inked with the Warriors, defensive lineman Blessman Ta‘ala and Penei Pavihi, the latter of whom had multiple Pac-12 offers.
“We wanted to address the line of scrimmage – with the departure of 4-5 seniors on the offensive line next year and you can never have enough good defensive linemen – and it looks to me that winning this conference has to be met at the line of scrimmage, we need to be able to stop the run and I think we addressed that,” Rolovich said. “Also our depth in the secondary wasn’t close to where we wanted to be so getting more speed on the back end was important to us.”
