Leatigaga Commits

Stephen Tsai writes that Chris Leatigaga has committed to becoming a Warrior.

An All-America junior college defensive end has accepted a football scholarship offer from the University of Hawai'i.

After consulting with his family last night, Chris Leatigaga of Foothill College in Los Altos, Calif., said he agreed to join the Warriors for the 2007 season.

Leatigaga will earn an associate degree in March — Foothill is on a quarters schedule — and have three years to play two seasons for the Warriors.

"I can't wait to get out there," Leatigaga said. "I've got family out there. I'm Polynesian, and that's a big Polynesian school. I'm going to feel right at home. I'm going to enjoy living there for the next two or three years. It's a comfortable place for me."

...

"Reinebold was watching the other guy's tapes when he noticed me," Leatigaga said. "Reinebold called my coach and said I caught his eye."

Leatigaga said Reinebold visited his home two weeks ago. "We talked, and he said he was going to make me an offer," Leatigaga said. "I like (Reinebold). He's a good guy."

Excellent news! Welcome to Chris! And it's another reason why Jeff Reinebold can't be allowed to leave.

Tsai also writes about the Warriors' tenacious D, highlighting the guys Leatigaga will be competing to replace.

Glanville said the three down linemen — nose tackle Michael Lafaele and ends Melila Purcell III and Ikaika Alama-Francis — not only occupy blockers, but can break free to make tackles. Lafaele often is assigned to the running back sneaking into the flats.

"The guys up front have been the Bermuda Triangle for opposing offenses this year," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "Running backs go in there but they don't come out."

Head coach June Jones said he was not surprised by the Warriors' improved run defense.

"Wherever Jerry's been, we've stopped the run," Jones said. "He gets the kids to take pride in stopping the run."

Another reason why Glanville can't be allowed to leave either!

Tsai also writes about Samson's endurance, Tala's new haircut, and some haole boys.

The Sun Devils were taught several phrases. Safety Josh Barrett, who learned to flash the shaka sign, has tried to use "da kine" in conversations.

Rodd said some of his Caucasian teammates refer to themselves as "haole boys."

"They're kind of proud of it," Rodd said. "It's kind of weird."

Dave Reardon profiles coach Dennis McKnight who, I must say, can't be allowed to leave.

"Dennis is a good football coach, one of the best one's I've had. He's made an impact just like (defensive coordinator) Jerry (Glanville) has. He coaches with a lot of energy and he has a good understanding of what we're doing," Jones said.

McKnight -- with the credibility of his 10-year NFL playing career -- imparted that wisdom on the Warriors' offensive line and special teams this fall.

Guards Hercules Satele and John Estes, who are completing their first seasons as starters, said they're glad he'll be around to aid in their transition to leadership positions.

"From the first game to this game, I'm much better," said Estes, a second-year freshman who moves to center after Sunday. "He shares his NFL experiences with us to help us out and open our minds to what we need to do, especially in practice. He basically lives in his office. So he's always around whenever we need to talk to him about anything."

Stephen Tsai has a great idea. Give the assistant coaches big fat bonuses.

Via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Sports Network has a Hawaii Bowl preview.

Unlike past seasons when Hawaii dominated with a passing attack, this year the squad had a legitimate running back to take some of the pressure off Brennan in Nate Ilaoa who gained an amazing 893 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. Even more impressive was the fact that Ilaoa (All-WAC First Team) averaged a shade under eight yards per attempt. Davone Bess, another First Team All-WAC performer, was once again a top receiver in the WAC as he posted 91 catches for a stellar 1,155 yards and 14 TDs. With barely half as many catches (53) as Bess, Ian Sample accounted for another 10 TD receptions for the top offense (549.9 ypg) and highest scoring program in all of football (47.3 ppg).

In this East Valley Tribune article by Dan Zeiger, Brandon Rodd talks about his reasons for attending a mainland school. But June Jones and his coaching staff have done a great job in showing local players UH is a great place to play.

With Hawaii posting six straight non-winning records from 1993-98, the school gave local players little reason to stay home. When June Jones arrived as coach in ’99, only 17 of the 105 players were of Polynesian descent.

Thanks to five winning records since then, the Warriors’ in-state recruiting fortunes have improved greatly. The retirement of BYU coach LaVell Edwards — who constructed the Polynesian pipeline to Provo, Utah — after the 2001 season did not hurt.

Now, 76 Polynesians are on the Warriors’ roster.

“We’ve been able to keep more of them,” Jones said. “I would say that, out of my eight years here, we’ve been able to keep 100 percent of the Hawaii kids we wanted probably five times, and the other years weren’t bad, either.

“Out of 20 kids in a class, there are always going to be four or five that want to go to the mainland no matter what. We try to identify them early, and then back off.”

And finally, Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press-Telegram writes about the ten bowl games to watch.

9. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Honolulu, Sunday (ESPN). Hawaii (10-3) quarterback Colt Brennan is worth the price of admission and Arizona State (7-5) may get off its butt and play hard for outgoing coach Dirk Koetter.

Game day is getting closer! GO WARRIORS!!!!