Training Camp Day 2 Wrap-Ups, Powell

Stephen Tsai talks to Tyler Graunke about his status.

He said he did "not do as well as I would have liked" in a summer-session class. He said the class is part of his major, and he has not met all of the obligations of the class, but it is not too late to correct the deficiencies.

"I have one more opportunity to get the mark I need," Graunke said. The second summer session — and 2007-2008 academic year — ends next week.

Jason Kaneshiro writes about Greg McMackin's attention to detail.

"Little things are really important, where they point their toes, what their key is, where their hands are," McMackin said. "You have to get the repetitions and then you do it naturally."

"He is so organized, he has everything in writing, exactly what he wants you to do," senior linebacker Adam Leonard said. "He even says if he sees a mistake on film, first he looks at himself, then the coordinators and the position coaches and then he looks at the player. He puts a lot of pressure on himself in being real organized and being real specific with what he wants us to do."

Brian McInnis highlights the new receivers as they get accustomed to the UH offense.

"The first few days of practice for the new guys are the toughest because they gotta learn the plays, they gotta get the timing down with the quarterbacks, and then on top of that they gotta catch the ball," Stutzmann said. "There's a lot of different factors that come into that -- getting off the line of scrimmage, running the route properly, recognizing the coverage. You'll see a lot of dropped balls in the first few days. Of course you don't condone it, but the thing you really look for in the first couple of days is the effort."

Leila Wai also features the new receivers, interviewing Royce Pollard and Daniel Lofton.

"Our offense is tough," Lofton said. "We rely a lot on our receivers so we have to do a lot of different adjustments and we have to read a lot of coverages. So that's probably a big challenge as far as knowing where to run and what looks you're going to get in the game."

Ferd Lewis has a column about Leon Wright-Jackson, who's looking forward to running the ball more this year.

McMackin was the Warriors' defensive coordinator last year and says, "it seemed like every time I turned around he was running down the football field. So, I think he's pretty dang good. I think Leon is the real deal and we need to give him some (carries)."

The praises have not been lost on Wright-Jackson who quotes them as if to stoke dedication to the task at hand. "Coach Mac told me to get prepared for this season," Wright-Jackson said. "He's a firm believer in the balanced attack and has big plans for the offense this season. He has been encouraging me, telling me to get ready and be prepared for it."

Stephen Tsai profiles Gahr High School receiver Deondre Powell, who committed to UH yesterday.

"He's deadly when he gets his hands on the football," said Brandon Huffman, West Coast Regional director for www.Scout.com. "He's tough in the open field. He doesn't have great straightaway speed, but he has great football speed. If he gets behind you, you're not going to catch him. He's a big-play type of guy."

Powell, who also received an offer from Arizona, considers former Warrior slotbacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins as football influences. Grice-Mullins, a friend of Nielsen's uncle Jon Nielsen, worked out with Powell in the spring.

"He tries to model his play after Davone and Ryan," Nielsen said. "He looks like them, too. He has some baby dreads going on."

The Star-Bulletin has more great quotes from Powell:

"We're really close, he's like a brother to me," Powell said of Nielsen, who committed to UH last month.
"We had been talking about Hawaii and playing at the next level together since before our freshman year. Hawaii has sort of been like my dream school."

"Our whole offense is based off Hawaii's offense so we fit right into it," said Powell, who also had an offer from Arizona.

The article also has news and notes from practice.