Draft Recap

What a draft weekend it was for the Warriors. Stephen Tsai writes about the players who were drafted and the players who received free agent deals. Here's an excerpt:

Only Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State and Florida had more players drafted than Hawai'i.

"That's amazing," UH head coach June Jones said.

Even more surprising is that of the 10 former Warriors who will report to NFL mini camps this week, two are running backs and five are defensive players. The Warriors are known widely for Jones' four-wide passing offense.

"Who knew we were a running back school?" Jones said, laughing.

Here's a list of the players and the teams they're going to:

Ikaika Alama-Francis - Detroit Lions
Samson Satele - Miami Dolphins
Reagan Mauia - Miami Dolphins
Tala Esera - Miami Dolphins
Nate Ilaoa - Philadelphia Eagles
Mel Purcell - Cleveland Browns
Leonard Peters - New York Jets
Dane Uperesa - Cincinnati Bengals
Kenny Patton - Oakland Raiders
Lawrence Wilson - Baltimore Ravens

In addition, Stephen Tsai writes that Ian Sample and Chad Mock are negotiating with the B.C. Lions of the CFL. Congratulations again to all the Warriors!

Cindy Luis talks to the players about how well UH did in the draft.

"I am not surprised, not with the season and the type of team we had," said Ilaoa, who led the 11-3 Warriors in rushing yards with 990 and scored 13 touchdowns. "It shows the kind of actual talent we have.

"For us to tie with USC (in picks) means we're not a fluke, or a gimmick offense, or whatever they like to call it. We have something very special here and (this draft) confirmed it."

Ferd Lewis writes about the amazingness of it all.

But the NFL selecting in bulk this year is the kind of an advertisement the Warriors couldn't buy. The kind of affirmation they needed. "Every young person dreams of playing in the NFL, whether it is realistic or not, and they look at your school to see how many you put there," said UH assistant coach Rich Miano, a sixth-round pick in 1985. "And this (year's draft) helps us out in so many ways."

...

While this draft was foremost a tribute to the players, it is also a sign the coaches are doing a lot right. Not only in coaching fundamentals but in evaluating and developing talent. While Nate Ilaoa was heavily recruited, Purcell and Satele were only lightly so, Mauia hardly at all and Alama-Francis was a walk-on from basketball.

Years later, however, they have put quite the exclamation point on the UH football program.

Well said.