Mouton and Lefiti Commit

Stephen Tsai writes that JC All-American corner Ryan Mouton and Mater Dei HS offensive/defensive lineman Matagisila Lefiti have committed to the Warriors.

Mouton was named to the 2006 National Junior College Athletic Association's All-America team.

Mouton, who is 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, has been electronically timed at sprinting 40 yards in 4.28 and 4.33 seconds. Three times, he was hand-timed at running the distance in under 4.3 seconds.

Mouton chose the Warriors over Utah, Iowa State and Boise State.

Also, Matagasila Lefiti, a lineman for Mater Dei High School in California, told The Advertiser he has accepted a scholarship offer from the Warriors.

Lefiti played on both the offensive and defensive lines at Mater Dei. He said he has not decided which position he will play at UH.

Mater Dei is quarterback Colt Brennan's alma mater.

Right on! Glad both of them decided to become Warriors. Mouton comes from Jacob Patek's JC, Blinn College. Stephen Tsai had previously written that Patek had gotten Mouton interested in UH.

Patek is being credited for 3-star cornerback Ryan Mouton's interest in UH. Patek and Mouton were teammates at Blinn College in Texas in 2005.
"He's been talking a lot about Hawai‘i," Mouton said.
Mouton said he watched the telecast of UH's victory in the Sheraton Hawai‘i Bowl, and he speaks often with Patek, who is spending the holiday break in Texas.

Give it up to Jacob!

And earlier today, Ferd Lewis gave it up to Tyler Graunke.

By making the tougher choice instead of seeking the easy exit, Graunke reinforced a lot of what UH saw in him early on.

"Tyler is a competitor," said UH assistant coach Dan Morrison. "We liked that about him from the beginning."

You have to like his feistiness, too. As Graunke told Stephen Tsai's blog in the event Brennan chose to come back: "I want to try to give him (Brennan) a little scare, even through he's probably coach Jones' favorite right now and Hawai'i's favorite, everybody's favorite."

Graunke grasps the sense of family and core value of unselfishness that made the Warriors special last season. He understands he has a role to play, and that by playing it he makes the Warriors better.

When Graunke arrived at UH, he was one of three freshmen and seven overall QB candidates. One by one they have left. That Graunke will still be here, even in the wake of this setback, says the Warriors have a couple winners at quarterback, even if only one can be the starter.

Well said. Graunke is just gonna explode right out of the gate his senior season. Until then, I hope he'll be playing in a lot of 4th quarters in 2007!