Warrior Beat: Hawaii football’s Michael Eletise receives waiver to play this season
BOISE >> The NCAA approved a waiver that allows Hawaii offensive lineman Michael Eletise to play this football season.
Eletise practiced during the appeal process that forced him to miss the Warriors’ first five games.
At issue was the rule requiring football players transferring between NCAA Division I programs to sit out a season. The exceptions are if the player earns a bachelor’s degree or receives a legislative-relief waiver.
Eletise, a Kaiser High graduate, was at Arizona for three seasons before announcing in February he was transferring to UH. He joined the Warriors in August.
Eletise filed for a legislative-relief waiver, but that request was denied. The NCAA, however, was open to hearing an appeal. On second review, the NCAA granted the waiver. Eletise is expected to play in Saturday’s road game against 14th-ranked Boise State. ‘
“It’s been a long process for him and his family and us,” coach Nick Rolovich told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I’m glad, in the end, the NCAA did the right thing. I would have loved for it to happen sooner, but sometimes you can’t control the timing of things.”
Eletise expressed gratitude to the NCAA for the ruling.
“They were kind enough to allow me to play,” Eletise said. “They make the rules, and I have to respect that, and follow that. I did what I set out to do.”
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Prayers for SteveM, our buddy and blog curator. He undergoes heart surgery today.
You got this, Steve.
SteveM:
our thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery from A-House ohana!!
Hope Eletise goes out and destroy them Bronco’s. Finish the blocks all the way to the ground.
Good morning Brother Steve M, my best and prayers to a successful operation and a speedy recovery. Get plenty more cruises you got to do.
So whose spot does he take? Oline has been good, no?
Healing energy for you, SteveM. I’m totally confident your doc team will fix you up 100%. Rehab, recover, and relish the future. There’s still too much to do and cruises to take. š
After awhile I quit asking about Eletise so I wouldn’t be an annoying broken record (young folks don’t understand anymore about what a broken record sounds like lol), but have been looking for this wonderful news. Mahalo ST!!!
Absolutely incredible depth on the O-line. Waa and company did very well against Nevada while letting Solo heal. Have to love the Warriors’ “problem” in finding PT for Eletise. I can just imagine a short yardage situation where Hensley, Levao, and Eletise are paving the way for Furuta (hoping for his return).
Michael Eletise looks like a beast! Watch out MW, here we come!
Prayers to SteveM for a 100% successful heart surgery and return to an active and full life.
Hawaii Nation welcomes you with open arms, Michael. Now first order of business, the Boise State Broncos. šš
UH opponents on TV this weekend (all times Pacific):
Today 5pm, Colorado St at New Mexico, CBSSN
Tomorrow:
1pm, UNLV at Vanderbilt, SEC TV
4pm, Fresno St at Air Force, CBSSN (should be a great one!)
7:15pm, of course Hawaii at Boise St, ESPN2
7:30pm, Wyoming at San Diego St, CBSSN
Great news! Our o-line will pound the Donks d-line.
Prayers up for SteveM!
GO WARRIORS!!!
Great news and worth the wait for Eletise, who now has this season and next to play for the Warriors.
Wishing Steve M a successful surgery and full recovery.
Great to have Michael Eletise cleared to play. I wonder what the starting O-line will look like tomorrow with Kohl Levao also ready to play? I like the idea of having Levao at center and Eletise at right guard to see how they can move people around to give the running game a boost up the gut. Keep doing it to soften the Broncos’ interior-D, then execute the passing. I’m a run-first guy.
Great news for Michael and Warrior Nation. Fans who have not had the chance to see this guy in practice will be pleasantly surprised. A Beast joins the unit that might be the best on the team. Prayers for a successful surgery for SteveM and a rapid recovery to getting back to doing the things you love including Rainbow Warrior sports.
Steve M, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
Turning out to be a strange day. Great news on Eletise but not so with the ultimate Tsaiko, SteveM.
Heal up SteveM….still have a lot of football to go this season.
This games gonna be a toughie but…
Pomai
Warriors….30
Bo ise….24
Nothing better for SteveM than a Warrior Victory!
Good morning Tsai & tsaikos! I have a question re the training table program. A few days back Tsai mentioned that after a Warriors win all student-athletes who participate in the training table program are treated to omelettes.
My question is: Does the training table apply to sports not in season but yet train/practice… specifically the BaseBows who are in Fall Practice. Were they recipients of omelettes, too, or does it just apply to sports currently in their season? Just wondering.
And imua Warriors. Lets get a win today!
Old news from Tues ā¦
https://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2019/10/8/football-mcdonald-selected-as-top-20-finalist-for-golden-arm-award.aspx
Ok, now Warriors have a much better chance to end the Jinx. However, again they got to outscore the Donks. Just hope our QB does the job and no picks. Victory.
Wishing you well, Steve M. Get back on your feet soon.
It is so important to build up both the offensive and defensive line units and have the ability to control the line of scrimmage. This staff has done quite well putting this together in a matter of just two seasons. I think the physicality is there for both units, just the confidence and realization needs to ensue. Maturation process. From there is just a matter of execution and then “sky’s the limit” for real (juggernaut maybe?). But its all situated in the “mind-right” (mental) process. A mental hurdle that both units need to cross, especially now that they have the physical ability to be dominant. The skill position offensive guys and the back-end defensive guys will flourish for sure once the line of scrimmage units figure it out. Soon I think. The ability is there. Just a matter of belief and trust for them. Awesome…BTW I believe in Blessman and Samuela. The key tomorrow.
Watching the Nevada condensed game video I noticed something different about the way Azia Se’ei played. Different from earlier games. He is often overmatched vs running plays (trying to absorb double team blocking) at his size but when he is isolated vs single blocker (especially pass rush) he is using a technique similar to Padello to slip blocks. Going be unreal once he starts to “master” the move. He got under the shoulder/”armpit” of the blocker and used his height (shortness) to his advantage via leverage. Awesome. His footwork and quickness is pretty good so he may be the interior disruptor that seemed to be missing first couple games.
Akoteu disrupted in a different way (mostly the blocking assignments) vs Nevada. Such a different defense with him back. Se’ei, Prichard, Mautautia, Hicks, and Okeke all had their best games. I believe it was because of Akoteu. The line of scrimmage was more in UH’s control. Makes a big difference. He needs to stay healthy. Important piece.
Great news about Big Mike and the o-line!! Iām hopeful about tomorrowās game. Execution, as always, is the key.
On a side note, I watched on YouTube the funeral U of A had for Coach Tomey. It was a great tribute. To hear how Coach got a Jesse Sapolu to stay home and play for the Warriors was great to hear! To many times local families of our top athletes put down UH and tell them that they gotta go away to make it! No wonder we have a low opinion of our D1 university! Why not make our institution great in sports too? Thatās how, IMHO, the ābig bucksā could come in. THEN, hopefully, our facilities could improve campus wide!
Just my two cents…
AP’s article – don’t know if it was posted here ā¦
https://sports.yahoo.com/hawaii-chance-noise-facing-no-14-boise-state-184653410–ncaaf.html
Final Analysis
Predicion from Athlonsports.com
“As good as Hank Bachmeier has been this season, he also has looked sluggish and confused at times. It’s highly unlikely that Boise State shuts down this high-powered Hawaii offense. That means at some point, the Broncos will need to abandon the rushing attack to keep up in what’s likely to become a track meet. When that happens, watch out for the true freshman to start forcing balls into places they have no business being thrown, likely leading to a game-changing turnover.
Prediction: Hawaii 33, Boise State 30”
I love the confidence and the momentum Hawaii has going into this game. If they play as well as they did on all three phases as they did at Nevada, I like their chances. Boise State is much better than Nevada but when Hawaii is firing on all cylinders, good things can happen. This is just hypothetical , but man imagine if Hawaii had the game of the season and handed Boise State their most decisive loss at home in years. I’d imagine their losses at home have never been blow outs so i bet a 17+ point differential is rare
SteveM – praying for a speedy recovery
SteveM: praying for your speedy recovery!
SteveM, Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Patti, I wouldnāt be surprised that Rolo is paying for the omelette out of his pocket. Itās not something the school/program would pay for.
Hawaii 34 Boise st 31
#31 H-Man. You’re probably right. Rolo comes across as a Hawaiian-soul kinda guy.
Lets win tomorrow, Warriors!
Prayers for Steve M. It’s a great problem for Weber to have with so many quality lineman. I think Wa’a should redshirt if Vaipulu can come back.
Is it to early to start a Saturday morning ābest of Roloā moments? What comes to mind, removing the benches during a game????? Letās go Warriors! This is the time to shine…..
Best wishes Steve M, You’ll be all set to watch an amazing game. And have an amazing rest of your life!
Patti, Rolo cares a lot for his team and Hawaii Athletics in general. I recall he set up a shave-ice stand for the players after practice, a treat he paid for.
Game day baby- biggest game of the year so far. Go Warriors !!!
I predict the Vanderbilt head coach will get fired after the game is over. Canāt lose to Comic Con U. Has the Mountain West ever won two games against the SEC in the regular season?
Steve M:
Take care and get well soon!
UH should “body bag” a game at teams like South Carolina or Syracuse or even a power like Texas (vulnerable lately). Teams that can make noise in their Conferences where you wouldn’t get physically manhandled (maybe athletically though but you can game plan/scheme for that) and maybe keep it close or pull the upset. Then local High School kids could get a good look at the University of Hawaii as a possible option/fit for their skillset. Especially now as the program develops some physicality (early stages) as an identity. Plus they would see that UH has a unique, exciting offensive and a pretty unique and interesting defensive style and scheme. Replace the home FSC game while we wait for the new Stadium. Just a thought.
Or replace the home FCS game with home and home vs American Athletic Conference (anybody but UCF or Navy right now). But consider a “winnable” body bag game in Phase II heading toward Phase III.
Pray and hope Steve M is now sitting up in bed reading this blog.
If you feeling able, try to plug in everybody’s predictions. One small step
for you but a big one.
Are the warriors in Boise? Seems odd that this is game day and nothing in blog, Jmho.
One more thought
I think that because Coach Rolovich (and his staff) has such a good reputation with local recruits here there will always be Hawaii kids looking to transfer back home when the opportunity or situation happens should there be space available. You wish them well when they opt for larger opportunities at the Power programs but its good when they do come back. Its almost like recruiting JC guys lately. Good fits in areas of need. Awesome.
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