Na Koa Lunch Report, Alex Green, MWC

NaKoa.org has this week's Lunch Report on on their site. The featured speaker was George Lumpkin. Here's an excerpt on recruiting:

We have about 20 scholarships available including those earmarked for grayshirts. Lumpkin said he wasn’t concerned that we have only a few early commitments. We are in on some good prospects who have options and those are the kind we want. We had a couple good ones in for the last home game and we’ll have some more in for this weekend.

HawaiiAthletics.com has quotes from Coach McMackin's weekly press conference. An excerpt:

On replacing this year’s senior class…
We have some big-time play makers we’re gong to have to replace, but we’ve got guys coming. We have recruits and we have some guys that are backing up that haven’t got as many reps. You think of Greg Salas, all the great receivers we have around here and he has over 4,000 yards. That’s big time. Then you think of what Alex (Green) is doing in the running game, he has over 1,000 yards. What our kicker (Scott Enos) did (to) break Jason Elam’s record, that’s unbelievable to me. He’s one of the greatest kickers ever. And Kealoha Pilares, what he’s doing. It’s just a fun group to coach, it’s probably the most fun group I’ve had to coach in a long time.

Stephen Tsai profiles Alex Green.

Hawaii running back Alex Green's quest for balance began in a training facility near his home in Portland, Ore.

With a medicine ball in one hand, Green would try to run across a narrow board. In another drill, he would hold a weighted bar above his head while doing a one-legged squat.

The disciplines, he said, were designed to improve balance, an important skill for a running back who relies on quick cuts.

"It took a lot of work," Green said.

Tsai has some news and notes, including this about Terence Bell:

After a monthslong battle, wideout Terence Bell was declared eligible for the New Mexico State game.

Bell, who was at Nevada a year ago but did not play in any games, transferred to UH this year. It was ruled that Bell had fulfilled the transfer obligation.

After this season, he has one year of eligibility remaining. Bell, who starred in two scrimmages three weeks ago, might be moved to slotback in the spring.

And Ferd Lewis writes that TCU's move to the Big East has made Hawaii's move to the Mountain West that much more certain.

While in general, not to mention financial, terms, UH would welcome TCU remaining in the MWC, the Horned Frogs' exit for distant pastures gives heightened urgency to the MWC's in-motion expansion considerations and comfort to the Warriors' admission hopes.

Had TCU stayed put, the MWC would have been at 10 members for 2012-13 and the need to beckon UH as No. 11 not quite as pressing. But as things now stand, the MWC is back in the expansion mode and likely at the bulk rate.