Ostrowski, Legay, Colt for Heisman

Wes Nakama talks to Miah Ostrowski about committing to UH and trying to pull double duty.

Ostrowski said Warriors coach June Jones has given him the OK to pursue both sports, although any basketball opportunity will be determined by whoever succeeds retiring Hawai'i hoops coach Riley Wallace.

"(Jones) is the one who told me I should try to play both," Ostrowski said. "Hopefully I can do both."

Ostrowski and former 'Iolani standout Derrick Low are believed to be the only basketball players in Hawai'i high school history to win first-team All-State honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior. In football, Ostrowski led the state this past season with 81 catches for 1,313 yards, including 10 touchdowns.

Paul Honda also talks to Ostrowski.

The two-sport standout called UH assistant coach Rich Miano with his decision yesterday at 8:30 a.m. The decision made sense long ago for Ostrowski, but he was patient.

"I didn't want to push too early a decision," he said.

Basketball is still his first love. The two-time All-State selection hopes to walk on as a freshman at UH, depending on whether next year's new coach will allow him to try out. Ostrowski already has the support of Jones, who likes two-sport athletes.

"I didn't talk to Coach Jones yet about everything, but from what we talked about before, I'm probably gonna redshirt my first year," Ostrowski said of football.

Ostrowski and Gabe Tuata are gonna be an awesome slot tandem in the coming years! Honda also talks to Tuata's Kealakehe teammate and recent commit Levi Legay.

"They really welcomed me there," said the 6-3, 270-pound Legay about the visit last weekend. "It's really a great football team and it will be great to be a part of that. It's a close-knit team. One big family over there."

Legay played center and tackle for the Waveriders and is projected as a center for the Warriors. He also said it's possible he may play guard.

"He's very intelligent and has good balance, good feet and a nice center of gravity," said Sam Papalii, who coached Legay at Kealakehe for three years. "He has all the intangibles and a bright future. He's the kind of guy you want to be making the calls for you. He gets good grades and that's why Stanford was recruiting him for a while."

And finally, UH will get an early start on promoting Colt for Heisman, among other things.

The University of Hawai'i has vowed to get behind returning quarterback Colt Brennan's push for postseason honors with, "a campaign where we're going to try and pull out all the stops."

John McNamara, UH associate athletic director, said the athletic department "will use every resource that we have available" to get out the word on Brennan not only for the 2007 Heisman Trophy but other awards.

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McNamara said UH will pull together its various partners, "in a comprehensive effort that makes sense for us." He said a budget hasn't been assigned, but the campaign would be run, "in such a way that we're going to put together a smart campaign, not just an expensive campaign."

McNamara said, "The lion's share of getting Colt's Heisman campaign rolling has been done by Colt" with his record-setting junior year. With last season's late takeoff by Brennan, "I think we garnered an awful lot of attention in a short period of time, so this is going to be a real luxury to have this many months to plan and get started.

"This (campaign) will be out there helping Colt, but everybody's going to win, the state, the city and the university. That's why we what to make sure we put our best foot forward."

Colt vs Colt Sports Illustrated cover! Come on guys! Make it happen!

UPDATE: Here's an updated link for Coach Jeff Reinebold's chat on The Warrior Beat.