By Dave Reardon

I spoke with Alema Tachibana, the Kahuku linebacker, earlier this evening. He said he’s been offered by UH, is leaning toward committing to the Warriors, and might do so this weekend if his visit goes well. He also has an offer from Utah.

By Dave Reardon

The following from Kevin Kaplan of the June Jones Foundation:

Aloha!

***

McMackin will be the keynote speaker at a USA Football Coaching clinic at McKinley High School, a week from Saturday, February 9, 2008 (Registration: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.)

McMackin will speak at noon.

By Cindy Luis

Only MPSF match of the night
Long Beach State def. Pepperdine 30-21, 32-30, 30-21
It took just 77 minutes at The Pyramid. Not a pretty night. The Beach hit .184, the Waves negative .065.

Nonconference
UC San Diego def. Princeton, 32-30, 24-30, 30-22, 30-27
UCLA def. Cal Baptist,30-27,26-30,18-30,30-21,15-12

By Dave Reardon

Kahuku coach Reggie Torres just had what he called a “very good visit” with Greg McMackin and Cal Lee this afternoon.

“It went great. What they want to do is good for Hawaii football. Not just Kahuku, not just UH, but all of Hawaii football,” Torres said.

Plans include reviving a UH coaching clinic for high school coaches. Torres last remembers a clinic of that type when Dick Tomey was the UH coach, more than 20 years ago.

“These guys want to make it better,” Torres said.

Torres said a “misquote” appeared in another publication, saying June Jones had never been to Kahuku in nine years, and Torres said “there was no tiff” between him and the former UH coach. But the Kahuku coach also said he thinks communication between UH and the North Shore powerhouse will be stronger now with McMackin at the helm.

Torres said his “twin towers,” linebackers Alema Tachibana and Paipai Falemalu, are set to visit Manoa this weekend.

Tachibana has been offered by Utah, and Falemalu has it down to Oregon State, Washington, Cal and Hawaii.

Torres said safety Shiloah Te’o will not be visiting UH this weekend, and is choosing between UNLV and BYU.

***

Art Laurel, the Leilehua outside linebacker will be joining the Warriors, having committed to UH some time ago, according to some very good sources, including Paul Honda.

Laurel’s running mate with the state champs, Robert Siavii, appears to be headed for Idaho.

Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said both are academic qualifiers.

By Dave Reardon

I remember what a great player this guy was at Kamehameha, and then his versatility and had-nosed attitude at Washington.

Another guy with strong local ties … and experience in several different areas on the mainland, and playing and coaching several different positions.

He’s also bounced back from some misadventure long ago, and has a good attitude about it.

Read more about UH’s new defensive tackles coach in Jason’s article today.

***

Head coach Greg McMackin has a way to take away some of the drudgery of off-season workouts. It’s called “Super Games.”

He’ll have 10 captains draft teams on Friday, and the teams will compete in lifting, speed and quickness and the classroom.

McMackin said “Super Games” met with great results at Texas Tech.

***

By Cindy Luis

Emailed Mike Miazga at VB mag. He confirmed it.

By Cindy Luis

Yes, matches will be at the Stan Sheriff Center. Sorry I don’t have the dates with me. It coincides with UH’s break which is mid-March.

By Dave Reardon

… tomorrow.

You may have noticed that I haven’t been answering as many questions as usual the past few days. That’s because I’ve been taking a few days off for some family stuff (good kine).

I’ll be back tomorrow and Wednesday and will try to answer more of your questions, and then I’ll be back for good on Sunday to start covering the final recruiting blitz.

By Cindy Luis

Kanoe and longtime boyfriend Kala Ka’aihue are officially engaged. She was at the banquet tonight wearing her ring.Associate head coach Kari Ambrozich and husband Eric are expecting their first child in July. She made the announcement tonight at the banquet. Eric’s a former UH basketball player. They’re very excited about being parents.

By Cindy Luis

As always a very fun night. Mahina Eleneki-Hugo was the keynote speaker. Scary to think it’s been 20 years since that last NCAA title.Only one senior was able to make it tonight. Raeceen gave a great speech. Kari Gregory just returned to Las Vegas from a month trip to Europe and sent an email speech that manager Ryan Tsuji read. Caroline Blood has moved to the mainland and is in the process of moving to Las Cruces, N.M., to be with her boyfriend Frankie, who plays baseball for New Mexico State.And Juliana Sanders left this weekend for Puerto Rico to play for a pro team there.Jayme Lee is in a sling following shoulder surgery. She’s expected to be out 6-8 weeks, will miss the spring matches. It will be a two-day round-robin with a team from Japan, Santa Clara and Cal State Northridge.Did see Catherine Fowler. Did not get a chance to meet her. She did look amazed by all the support and festivities. Mike Sealy said from the one practice he’s seen, he thought she was going to be pretty good.Scott Robbs did a nice job as emcee. Dave Shoji did make one request for me to write something. That was about the amount of desserts Amanda Simmons and Jamie Houston put away. They each had a dinner plate of sweets, predominantly chocolate. Ten of the players made UH scholar-athlete which is 3.0 or better. Five made academic all-WAC with two more expected to be named this spring.I’m sure there’s things I’m forgetting. More later if I think of them.