Look who’s back
Yep, that was Larry “Tui” Tuileta at UH early this morning as he joined volleyball teammates for the opening day of training camp. The Warriors departed this morning for Camp Erdman. Tuileta said he is focused on volleyball this semester, but left open the possibility of joining the football team this summer.
By the way, Cindy Luis will be taking over men’s volleyball fulltime this season. Your blog host will be covering baseball in the spring.
* * * * *
Speaking of the spring, here’s an early outlook at the football Warriors’ defense:
> Defensive end: Jamie Tago’s return should boost the Warriors’ pass rush. For a short stretch, Meffy Koloamatangi was regarded as the Warriors’ best defensive lineman. He progressed not only as a pass rusher but as a bracket defender and run stopper. David Manoa and Tevarua Eldridge, who had a turn with the first unit before suffering an elbow injury, will return. Kaimana Padello also made some key plays as a true freshman. Max Hendrie, who impressed with his workouts, never received clearance to play this season despite earning good grades at a prestigious Australian school. He then suffered an injury that might limit his availability for spring ball. He should be ready for training camp. The redshirt tags came off Isaac Liva, who may or may not play volleyball this spring, and Cole Carter, who was named the top defensive scout.
> Interior line: Kiko Faalologo was ailing from the first day of training camp, when he suffered a knee injury. He then aggravated the injury, preventing him from playing in the Hawaii Bowl. Faalologo is the Warriors’ strongest player, and the Warriors missed his power at the point. He should be ready this spring. Samiuela Akoteu came back from a foot injury in 2015 to have a real nice season. Alesana Sunia, the last recruit of the 2016 class, reshaped his body during his redshirt year. Viane Moala had a nice debut season, starting the final three games. His athleticism was on display with the walk-off block against Fresno State when he made the deflection with his off hand.
Linebackers: A unit of concern turned out to be dependable the past season. Malachi Mageo disrupted offenses with his range at outside linebacker, and Jahlani Tavai thrived in the move from rush end to middle linebacker/play-caller. The Warriors got production from four weak/inside backers — Jeremiah Pritchard, whom some liken to a young Pisa Tinosamoa; Ikem Okeke, who made the momentum-turning strip/sack against Middle Tennessee; Solomon Matautia, and Russell Williams Jr. Ben Scruton, who is considered one of the fastest Warriors, could find a role at linebacker or in the secondary.
Safeties: During an interview following the Hawaii Bowl, Trayvon Henderson quivered as he spoke of the game, then grinned. It was a fake-out, as Henderson then spoke with his regular voice. That’s the great thing about Henderson. He’s not outwardly sentimental. He’s a tough, all-business player, sort of the Popovich of football. He is such a respected leader that when he bought in, everybody else followed. Daniel Lewis will be ready for spring ball after missing most of the season with a severe hamstring injury. He is expected to receive a medical redshirt, extending his UH career through 2018. Austin Gerard and Keala Santiago will continue to be part of the rotation. Freshman Kalen HIcks, who aggravated a knee injury, should be ready for training camp. There is a possibility Dany Mulanga, who was an outside linebacker in 2016, could move back to the secondary.
Corners: Jalen Rogers and Jamal Mayo have graduated. Rojesterman Farris, who started six games, including the Hawaii Bowl, is a top contender for one spot. Zach Wilson was used as a nickel-corner in sub-packages. Cameron Hayes was in the rotation most of the season. Terrence Sayles, a converted wideout, brings size and quickness. Mykal Tolliver, who redshirted as a freshman, appears ready to challenge for playing time. Eleven months after signing a letter of intent, Eugene Ford joins in January.
Baseball??? Sounds interesting.
wecome back Tui!
Hope everyone has a great 2017 including our awesome Warrior football team–things are looking up.
Welcome back Tui… officially! Hope to see him compete on the football field; good athlete, great decision maker. #GoBows
Who wants to help me raise funds to help with UH Football recruiting thru my UH Foundation Warrior Nation fund:
https://giving.uhfoundation.org/funds/12600404
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/warrior-beat/average-fan-helps-warriors/
What happened to Billy Hull? You stole his job?
Nah…. anyway have fun covering baseball. You going miss out on a breakout season. I think this is the year we go far.
A big mahalo to Al, Akamai Okole, DC Warrior, Maddog50, C Kuniyuki, G Ushijima, M Yuen & A Uffman for donating to my fund this year–our current balance is $2,784.58–anyone else?
Previous donors were tommui, chopsueyboy, smugdude, AHouse, lakesidegt, finlandia, Waryor, E Mente, D Ng, G Morisato, A Wong, L Rolovich, K Azuma, C Adachi, R Yuen, W Miyamoto, B Hattori, M Kiyuna, plus many others.
Kahuna:
Billy Hull, I think, is going to become our prep guru. Well, he already was a guru. But now he can put that on his business cards.
This is the lineup:
Dave Reardon — Columnist
Ferd Lewis — Columnist
Cindy Luis — Women’s/men’s volleyball
Jason Kaneshiro — Preps, women’s basketball, softball, everything
Brian McInnis — Basketball, soccer, everything
Billy Hull — Preps editor
Paul Honda — Preps
Jason is pretty much our MVP. He does it all. Plus, he’s a really nice guy.
Brian and Billy are very good, too.
The rest of us are old farts who check our IRAs hourly and wonder whatever happened to Mercurochrome, Grecian Formula and Neil Abercrombie’s sports commission.
Now maybe we can get some recruiting stories in baseball. Noticed we finally have a Japanese kid from Tokyo on the roster. 6′ infielder.
Aside from the two QBs, are we expected to lose any other players to transfer? What happened to Tullis? Is he going to stay as a receiver or is he going to be a corner/safety? Any rumors regarding a bigtime QB or running back transfer joining the program?
Appreciate the summaries of the returning offensive and defensive players by position. Did notice some players have not been mentioned. Understandably, these are probably players not likely to make the rotation, except for one – Zeno Choi. Any reason he was not included with the interior D-linemen?
ST: Great to hear that you’ll be doing baseball. I love UH baseball, and I love reading your stuff, so I’ll be loving reading about the stuff I love.
I guess this means you’ll be a busy guy in March when spring training rolls around and you’ll be covering spring ball and UH baseball.
growing up with Mercurochrome — son-of-a gun — sucker stung like heck on any cut or bruise — left that funny looking “reddish” mark on the skin
it was the cure all for any skin injury — wonder how much alcohol was inside? — by that standard, first aid anointment today are gentle to the “wound”
yea, ST — what about Zeno Choi? — silence is golden?
Great Afternoon All!
“Mercurochrome made with Mercury is illegal to be sold, manufacturer or distribute in or out of the US.”
😯
https://www.amazon.com/Sanvall-Mercurochrome-Oz-Sanar-Naturals/dp/B003IPOOOC/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1482965855&sr=8-1&keywords=mercurochrome
Got Geritol?
😆
Lotsa “Cole” on the roster
…speaking of coal.
Hope the D gets a coupla big lumps for the D-Line. Messing up zone-blocking schemes can accentuate good Inside LB play. (evidence the HS State champs with their two Super Soph DT’s)
#8 – Add Seabreeze, original strength, to the list. I cannot find it anywhere anymore, except Bed, Bath & Beyond. It used to be an island staple!
This Russell Athletics commercial is awesome!
http://teamon.russellathletic.com/
reliable source says Brownholtz also goods good — me lykey cole slaw from KFC!
QB will be exciting position to watch in Spring ball
now, what happens if a super, duper HS QB or transfer joins the team? who should I root for now AZ gone?
wonder if the St Louis QB will come back for his senior prom or graduation?
“Rambling Rose, Rambling Rose, How I wonder no one knows” – one of 3 male singers with a “perfect pitch”
Akamai:
where’s the Geritol? could use some now!
last year at this time, I was swamped with work with little time to rest
fast forward a year and I have lots of time to post – nice, but getting sleepy like heck!
“where’s the beef?”
Can not mention every player on the depth chart. I’m sure Zeno is solid on the front. Could literally go thru the roster to name players-no worry
UH Men’s VB — loaded with talented athletes? add “Tui” to the mix and Charlie Wade may challenge for a National Championship?
Charlie has brought back the “European” connection — wonder what happened with Shoji’s pipeline? — he recruited several excellent players in the 70s and into the 80’s
Thanks for the player review Mr. Tsai. Guess I’m old, okay I’m old,, cause I check my 401K almost daily too! I also have OCD though…
Welcome home, Larry “Tui” Tuileta!
RE: #13
A-House — that was Merthiolate that stung. Had alcohol in it and left a orange-yellow color. I am still nursing my last 1/3 bottle of Mercurochrome. Great for shallow scratches on old skin. Is it OK to use if I don’t eat fish? 🙂
Happy belated birthday SteveM
Men’ s vb…should they find a great libero could be a final four team.
SteveM:
no worries unless you consume a lot of fish such as sea bass or mahi mahi from certain parts of the Pacific Ocean such as waters off Peru — they have a lot of mercury/lead in them
Mercurochrome sounds more familiar, but this old brain is well old and memories fade.
Thanks, Al — I’m now as old as you for a while… 🙂
Happy New Year!
Say, maybe a bunch of us can limp together on a cruise in 2017. The 50th reunion committee has thrown that to Danny Ching and I. Only need Danny, though. 🙂
MERCUROCHROME DIDN’T HURT, BUT MERTHIOLATE AND IODINE STUNG LIKE THE DICKENS!!!
Zeno Choi is solid. Interesting that he played a lot of d-end this year.
ST, thank you for the feedback. I was thinking, Zeno, as a non-scholarship player, might have been considering transfer, especially since he did not play in the Hawaii Bowl.
H-Man
As an initial walkon, Choi has to wait two years to be put on scholarship or else he counts as one of the 25 initials.
2017 #Warriorball begins!!
Warriors are talented and deep at every position, but they’re young. 4 Srs, 0 Jrs.
See you all at the SSC starting next Thursday!
ST – nice seeing you tonight. Will miss seeing your handsome face at the MVB games.
BTW, tomorrow night is a double header BB game. Wahine @ 5:30, Warriors @ 8:00.
This is why I don’t get when people get upset when a young athlete leaves to play at a big program. Just have to let them know that the door is always open and home will always be there!
Trust me I know, no matter how long you away, THE AINA SHE CALLS!
Welcome home Tui!
Since Gifford is in the mix too, maybe can redshirt Choi.
Oh, congrats to ST for getting the baseball assignment.
The way I look at it, football is the biggest $ sport that needs good PR and coverage, which ST does well. Baseball is another biggie that could use some bolstering and more fan interest.
FYI-Brian Polian is now Special Teams Coordinator at Norte Dame, a position held from 05-09. David White former Bishop Gorman Head Coach now RB coach at Nevada. Looking forward to some exciting news on the recruiting trail in the next few weeks. An awful lot of quality players still uncommitted along with some “diamonds in the rough” out there. Looking forward to our fair share! GoWarriors!!!!!
Great Morning All!
SteveM,
re:39
The Blog Host has reported on many “regime changes” as UHFB beat writer, no? 😈 😯
Hmmmm… do you think UH will someday
play their football at the baseball field, too?
ST’s baseball assignment is good for Rainbow baseball. Looking forward to his player profiles.
I’m a big baseball fan and I used to go down to the Lower Quarry when I lived in the dorms to watch UH baseball once they opened up the gates in the 7th inning. They haven’t been relevant since 1980 with the vaunted Keiki Corps, led by Chuck Crim (15-0) as a Freshman and Bryan Duquette.
in August 2004, a good friend who lives in Indiana, got tickets at Wriggly Field – about 8 rows up from 3rd base
Chuck Crim, then 35 years old, was on the pitching staff as a reliever
our Midori7 is a huge Cubbies fan and so happy they won the championship – all the past years, it was “maybe next year”
Waiting for more football news 🙂
In the mean time, my memory is fading but those glory years of UH Baseball included some of the following: Collin Tanabe, Kimo Perkins, Howard Dashefsky, Ricky Bass, Glenn Braggs, Joey Meyers, Eric Tokunaga, can’t think of anyone else…
Here’s a bit of news closer to home. ESPN posted that former BYU head coach LaVelle Edwards passed away. RIP.
AZwarrior22, with all due respect, “not relevant since 1980”??
In my years at UH, about 82-87, there were, if I am not mistaken, 3 WAC titles, NCAA appearances every year, and future MLB players like Glenn Braggs, Chuck Jackson, Joey Meyers, Bruce Walton, Mike Campbell, etc….far from irrelevant.
Boolakanaka – I wasn’t talking specifically 1980 but shortly thereafter especially since Trapasso’s watch, they have not been very good.
“cattle call” or Tsaiko phrase for “grub”
had the pleasure of meeting boolakanaka and most recently Capt Ron – very quality individuals, very knowledgeable of UH sports, and nice persons
yep, yep, Maple Garden, IMHO, serves one of the best small Chinese buffet lunches on Oahu – very tasty chicken wings and egg plant is for broke the mouth good!
Rainbow Baseball, for whatever reason, does well in pre-season then falls flat in conference play — seems to be the pattern the past 7-8 years.
Is the conference that good? Cal-State Fullerton always has a good team and ranked within the top 20 nearly every year
was it 1979 or 1980 that UH won 65 games with only 5 losses – is my memory still correct?
in the 1980 College World series, UH beat Texas at home and won the regional — had to beat Arizona once for the Championship, but lost twice — “Tats” graduated in 1979 and Chuck Crim and Brian Duquette [sp] were the true frosh super stars – Duquette was very tempermental
As a clarification, Tats, if I am correct, did not graduate in 79, but rather left as a junior. Not sure if he subsequently came back and finished his degree–although, I think he did.
Many an afternoon as a youth, a group of us would watch Aiea just dominate the HS ranks, first with Gerald Ako (for a brief time, I lived on the same street as Gerald Ako–who live next dorr to two other really good Aiea High players, Ronald Hiyashi and Stanley Lagapa) and then Tats…..Tats was a walking legend in Aiea.
New post: http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=40831