Lineman (re-)commits to UH
Call it a “renewal of vows.”
Defensive lineman Samiuela Lauaki of Cathedral High in Los Angeles will sign with the Rainbow Warriors.
Lauaki made an oral commitment to UH back in June. But he missed the flight to Honolulu for a recruiting trip earlier this month, then appeared to be ready to sign with Utah State. He ended up not signing with Utah State … nor with anyone else.
Lauaki, who plans to go on a two-year church mission beginning this summer, stayed in touch with UH. Lauaki completed his UH visit this morning. He will sign with the Warriors, an agreement that is more than symbolic. If a returning missionary were to transfer, he would need a release to receive a scholarship.
Lauaki played on the offensive and defensive lines for Cathedral. He projects as a defensive lineman.
He is officially 6 feet 3 and 260 pounds.
good morning tsaikos
GOOD MORNING HAWAII!
Better late than never!
Aloha kakahiaka
I’m still intrigued about a 5-8, 225 fullback.
gooda morning 808
It sure was voggy yesterday.
We were at the park, and it looked like 1960s London.
i dont know if you are allowed to but in your personal opinion out of all the walk on tryouts who really caught your eye
Morning Gangeez! 😉
Good news about Lauaki.
Why intrigued, Mr. Tsai? Did he do something to catch your eye? Skill wise?
DPK:
I saw him run the 40 and I thought: That would be a tough guy to stand in front.
They had some interesting guys. There was a 6-5 receiver, from Seattle. He made some nice plays.
But they didn’t do a lot of football drills. It was mostly to see who was in shape.
Shucks, We really need him now.
True dat BigWave…
Aloha kakahiaka.
Welcome Mr. Lauaki.
Imua Rainbow Warriors!!!
Guud Morning Tsaikos…bootful day..
IMUA NA WAHINE….reload and time to play ball!
OK . . . I’ll be the bad guy. While I am happy the football talent that has recommitted, I must admit it is hard to get overly excited about a guy who is known to have missed his flight (really?), backed out of not one, but two commitments, and will be going on a two year mission.
Basically the prom date who stood you up for another date is back. Maybe.
I agree with ST, from just an optics perspective, if the human fire hydrant can actually run, and has some football skills, well we need to give him the diadem of “most interesting walk-on prospect.”
16. There is probably more to it than just missing a flight. Only thing to worry about is whether or not he can play football…
Mission isn’t exactly a bad thing in this case. If you saw Lauaki, he does need at least a redshirt year to add muscle and mass. Very similar to Leo Kaloamatangi. Leo needed 2 years to add strength and mass. He’l come in ready to play as a FR. He is a good athlete for his size though and got 1st team all Mission league in the same division with Malachi Mageo, Dwight Williams, Adoree Jackson, Olajuwon Tucker, and so on..
In cases like Ursua and Zwahlen, I would have wished those guys didn’t go on their mission. Could have helped in year 2 possibly. Lavaka was huge already and probably didn’t need a mission either.
kev-1 #16:
while I like to be optimistic, I have a feeling that he will not attend UH, but if he does, all the better
I do hope that his recent history is not a mirror of the person and perhaps the 2 year mission will make him a better person
I was hoping for better, but Michelle did end up 4th or so – and you can’t knock a finishing 69 … well, maybe 68, 67 or so.
But, as Whitey will tell you, making $$ at golf is better than losing!
Whitey: I am a 1970 Lahainaluna grad; what about you and Duffer? Al told me he meets you guys when he goes to Maui.
Missing a weekday morning flight from LAX is not really than uncommon.
Took my share of weekday morning business flights out from LAX…..where my travel work companion(s) had missed the flights.
Morning traffic on the 405 as well as Century Blvd. or Imperial Hwy to LAX as well as around LAX is really unpredictable due to morning crashes.
follow-on to SteveM’s remarks – I worked with 3 100 Bn vets in the mid-50s and they all said the “kotonks” did not like the Hawaii guys because their interpersonal relationships with so many other ethnic groups – especially dealing with “haole” friends.
they, the mainland born, displayed a distinct dislike for white people and that evolved from how there were treated being born and raised on the mainland
I have nephews and nieces born on the mainland and their parents hold the opinion that they wished their children could have been raised in Hawaii
It’s easy to talk about it, but until you have personally encountered the “hate” on the mainland that’s all it will be – talk.
now, back to football – Lauaki, in 2 years keep your verbal commitment to UH
25. I think that all comes down to who the coaching staff is in 2 years… If we start winning this year, then we should get most of our mission kids back
me agree with you a-house…2 years away from mama n papa… can make a person grow up fast..n depends where his mission is… even faster then most..
i see a lot of them here in manila..which is a modern city….but 3rd world also…meaning..one may live in a modern condo…n the next lot could be described as 3rd world…because of poverty…a few of my neighbors cook all their meals outside with wood…no hot water…no flush toilets…some have refrigerators… most don’t…so he will maybe find it very challenging depending on what the church will provide 4 him…but the people he will be talking to for the most part…well lets say.. it shouls make him open his eyes n grow up faster then most…hope so ne way…i am sure in 2 years he will be returning from where he goes a bigger n better person for sure…. to play 4 years…
#4
remember the guy who wore #4, 5-8, 260 nate ilaoa
#19
When Lavaka comes back is he an OL or DL? And does a guy that big need to red shirt?
ST: Several days ago you said (or hinted) something about some good news to come. Well this news about Lauaki is good but is that the one you were telling us to expect?
Well now this flap about Lauaki committing to UofH then de committing so as to commit to Utah State and now to recommit to UofH. I guess we got to take what we can get. Now I don’t suggest that he is just another so-so recruit. After all, our coaches first went after him quite some time ago and we all got the report that he is a good sized, good player. On the other hand just consider that we had a good local HS player commit to Hawaii until the very end but then de committed and committed to USC. It was disheartening but who knows what happens in the long run? We’ll win a few and lose a few. Now we have to go with what we got. Our coaches need to put together the various parts to produce a winner!
Welcome Lauaki and Go Rainbow Warriors”
I think the new UH president should have Pac-12 experience/connections. We should aim culturally to be as much like those schools, including projecting the academic brand to the Asia/Pacific (which we are pretty solid already). The university presidents have the most power and we want to align with the powerful schools as much as possible. We need a univ president who can win us allies.
Interesting read: UW’s Athletic Dept made a profit last year, but still took in a State subsidy of some $3.3 million from the State of Washington to cover Title IX sports as mandated 25 years ago by State law.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022973200_uwathleticssubsidyxml.html
When he returns from his mission, Lavaka supposed to get a look at OL first.
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nothing wrong with getting subsidies. in fact, it should be the norm. after all, the UH athletic department brings in $$$millions of tourism dollars from visiting teams (athletes, staff, administrators, family, supporters). how many tourist came to hawaii because they saw the pro bowl on tv? after all, not many watch the game on tv.
again, just another example of the state giving the shaft to the UH athletic department.
what non-bcs school has better teams in all women’s sports than the UH? the wahine deserve some subsidizing.
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you think he will break june jones’ 9 win turnaround of ’99?
i say we will break 9 this year… think that is possible.. with a few breaks here n there..we just need sum luck.. seems like we had mucho bad breaks last year..
t-warriornation, duffer and i are baldwin grads, but years apart. he one young squirt. by any chance was the former band master at maui hi, he has the same name as you, related to you. i grad in 60, a little before your time, but know quite a few from lahaina.
It’s actually the Regents who run the university. That’s why today’s appointments are significant.
Aloha Lauaki and all lurkers and posters. May you have rainbows in your life always.
Sanford Yuen is a true UHfan. I have met him on several of the road trips as well as UH FB home games.
Sanford was just nominated as a UH Regent and awaits confirmation.
#16 Kev 1,
Spot on comments!!!!! I agree with you 1000% but would also like to add its hard to get excited for me to say he’ll be here in 2 years!!!
Chillin at the beach today with Mrs and #1 daughter. Got a couple tako for the smoker. Absolutely beautiful here.
………as always, Let’s Go Bows!
The new UH President must have photos and video of the existing PAC12 Presidents to blackmail them into letting UH join the conference. I don’t have shame if that’s our way in 🙂
warrior dave..is good idea… maybe he should call a meeting in hawaii.. then let the mahou’s work on them 12…should have many pics after that he he he
33. We could use him bad on either side but my guess is he plays NT because Samia is gone and Friel will be a senior when Lavaka arrives. He is a really big kid too. 6-4 3+ I think.. He would be perfect 0 technique NT in my opinion clogging up the A gap for our LBs to make plays.
Might be a good thing he took his mission in Tonga so he’s probably still working out with the relatives and maybe playing some rugby too.
PAC-12 IS ONLY INTERESTED IN:
1. HAWAII FOOTBALL PLAYERS,
2. STEALING PLAYERS AFTER U.H. GETS ORAL COMMITMENTS,
3. SCHEDULING GAMES IN HAWAII ONLY IF U.H. PAYS FOR TRAVEL, ETC..
PAC-12 IS NOT INTERESTED IN HAWAII AS A CONFERENCE PARTNER.
I MENTIONED THIS IN SO MANY WORDS IN PREVIOUS BLOGS, BUT WHO CARES.
I was told by a player coming back from his mission that he was not allowed to lift weight or participate in any recreational activities while on his mission. The 2 years wasn’t about him but the lost souls that needed to be reached. He kept in shape by doing push ups and sit ups but that’s about it. No jogging but probably lots of walking or bike riding
Hope these transfer guys do well. I thought Tepa and a couple others were going to have a more major impact but Schroeder is the only transfer that looked pretty good.
Go Ju…
So on Friday, I went to see an intramural 3-on-3 contest. One of the better teams consisted of Tony Grimes, Marcus Kemp and Isaac Fotu
The next opening in the athletic department should go to Carl Furutani. He does a great job with student activities
Don’t know about the rest of you……but not liking Fotu participating in an intramural contest during the MBB season.
What Gib is thinking? Hmmm…..
whitey…i am so happy to see that you think the duffer is a young squirt.
in. 3-4 you’ll need at least 3-4 nt who can go!
53…thats better than riding a moped.
isn ‘t carl with the auxillary services dept?
al . . . actually, Fotu rode his moped to the 3 on 3 game.
OK, I just made that up.
Colt Brennan and the boys used to play pick-ups and I’m pretty sure some intramural stuff all the time. What are you gonna do?
Whitey: that bandmaster was not related to me, many people asked me that before. Email me at: tomkitaguchi@yahoo.com
So we can talk story. I know bloggers don’t like to read personal stuff here (like me, lol)–only UH football.
60
in the MWC …
” Nevada: William & Mary defensive coordinator Scott Boone is a strong candidate to be the new defensive coordinator at Nevada. Have heard it might be a done deal already. Will update in the morning. “
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Good morning!
Looking forward to the roster settling for spring…..looking forward to physical improvement in returners and upgrade of additions….not good or do not care to predict but this will be a much improved program this year despite what some may think…..as I sit here is day after day 20 degree temps looking forward to my two week stay in September and a chance to see two games at the stadium…..lucky you live Hawaii!!!!
Great Morning All!
WTG BaseBows….Suhweeeeep!
69
70 is a good number
maddog50:
perhaps your schedule will allow 1 or 2 visits with the Tsaiko tailgate?
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Push ups worked for hershel walker. He did 600 every day, he was too poor to have weights.
He may have missed his flight and canceled on 2 other schools but were you at your best at 17?
Big Bud 808,
What we were questioning is his determination and commitment not only to UH but his life choices as well.
bigbud808:
I made a lot of “humbug” at age 17, but I never missed school or cut class
never missed a flight – 1957 went to Hilo for a Hi-Y/Tri Hi-Y conference – lay over in Honolulu due to Hurricane Dot
Remember many former/current Warriors flip/flopped their initial verbal commitments and signed with Hawaii. Most recently David Graves (Nevada), Cayman Shutter (New Mexico), Will Gregory (AZSt), Beau Yap (Baylor), Keith Kirkwood (Rutgers), Ammon Barker (UCLA)
76. I don’t recall Gregory ever being committed to ASU. Barker and Lakalaka got scholarships pulled.
morning 808, sunny day to do lawn work
right after some kope get it done