I saw this explode in Hawai'i news, that Punahou quarterback Larry Tuileta had turned down a scholarship from UH to go to USC without an athletic scholarship. (I can fully relate, because I turned down a full academic ride -- for my brains -- to UH and instead opted for USC.) A two-sport athlete who also plays volleyball, he decided to take the offer of being a preferred walk-on the Trojans football program.
No big deal, right? Here's where it gets interesting. Tuileta is a two-time Hawai'i State Gatorade Player of the Year in football. He's not ranked highly by anyone (Rivals 2-star; ESPN 3-star; 247 Sports 2-star). (It seems odd that a guy who's not even the highest rated player in Hawai'i wins the award two years in a row; was it simply because Punahou won the state championship last year, and was runner-up the year before?) Here's two previous players who won the Hawai'i State Gatorade POTY twice (and were ranked highly nationally): Marcus Mariota and Manti Te'o.
Watch his junior highlights. He appears to have the ability to look players off, follow his progressions and deliver the ball where it needs to be, even if it kind of looks like a duck.
He doesn't look to have the throwing ease and spirals of Jalen Greene, but the kid probably just needs to grow into his body and build his strength up. At UH he'd probably become the starter after a season (or sooner), given their quarterback woes. Probably a small gain for USC, but a big loss for UH. USC finished with the 10th-ranked recruiting class with 19 players while UH signed 25 players, good for just 113th in the nation.
But you know, when you're on the USC campus and in Los Angeles, it's really exciting and hard to resist. When you walk past the practice field and hear the TMB practicing, it gets you pumped up for football. UH is...well...a public university with okay facilities. Love UH, but the campus is not in the same class as USC; after all, USC pours tens of millions of dollars into construction all across and off campus, while UH struggles to build dorms on time and is always under the glaring budget eye of the state.
In other news, Max Wittek could always transfer to UH and instantly start. Norm Chow should be rolling out the red carpet for Max.
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