By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Friday, Oct. 15, 2004

It’s sad to see, but it’s happening before the very eyes of University of Hawai’i football fans.

Again.

The non-recruitment of Kaluka Maiava, who verbally committed to USC Sunday, is yet another head-scratching case. File this one behind other cases: Jordan Dizon, Caleb Spencer, Aaron Francisco, Jonathon Mapu, Donny Mateaki, etc., etc.

Maiava, an extremely hard-working 6-foot, 215-pound senior, showed up on the radars of Division I recruiters in the off-season. With outstanding performances at a number of West Coast camps, including the most prominent one at Palo Alto, Calif., his star shined brightly. He won top linebacker awards at every camp, surpassing then-top rated Luther Brown.

Unfortunately, for UH fans, the opportunity for the Warriors had already begun to slip away. Long before the camps, Maiava sent video footage of his games at Baldwin to Manoa. After five months without a response, Maiava was set to transfer to Kahuku, where an uncle is an assistant coach.

Then came the summer camps. The transfer plans were scrapped, and several Pac 10 schools came a-calling. By the end of summer, he had a plethora of actual scholarship offers: Washington, Oregon, Utah, BYU, UTEP, Wisconsin, Colorado and Arizona.

A month ago, however, a new offer arrived. USC had done its homework, and after analyzing tons of video, determined that Maiava was the second-best linebacker prospect in the nation. The Trojans broke tradition and did the unthinkable by offering him an early scholarship.

By Sunday, the decision was made. It was an easy one for Maiava, who has long been a Trojans fan.

There was a time, however, when he dreamed of playing for Hawai’i.

Not that UH ever went after Maiava with any sense of fervor. In fact, not even a brochure and questionnaire was sent to Maiava in the past year. During that time, he received but one phone call from the UH coaching staff, a courtesy call from Cal Lee. Baldwin’s offensive coordinator, Pohai Lee, is a nephew of Cal Lee.

“My friend, Dylan Moss, from St. Louis, didn’t even get recruited (last year). I thought they were crazy,” Maiava said. “They miss a lot of good athletes. They should start looking. There’s a lot of good players right here, especially on Maui.”

In the meantime, many other schools offered him scholarships: Washington, Oregon, Utah, BYU, UTEP, Wisconsin, Colorado and Arizona.

Colorado assistant Brian Cabral, who recruits heavily in the islands, was in constant contact with Maiava. Cabral, a linebackers coach, was instrumental in bringing former Waimea standout Jordan Dizon to CU, where he is now a starting inside linebacker as a freshman.

“I was amazed they didn’t recruit Jordan,” Maiava said of UH. “Coach Cabral called me every day. They were one of the first schools to offer me.”

Maiava’s top three schools at decision time were USC, UCLA and Colorado.

Mahoney played at Kamehameha, and then Colorado. When there was no response from UH for five months, he started wondering. “I thought, they might start losing a lot of kids, not just Kaluka,” said Mahoney, who began to envision his son playing alongside Dizon at linebacker in Boulder.

Maiava likes to let his play do his talking, much like his favorite player, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. Maiava also likes to let his fists to the talking.

He began training for boxing after his sophomore year and will return to that regimen soon. “After football, I’m getting back into boxing. After that, running is easy in football,” he said.

One of USC’s defensive coaches is former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton Jr. “His dad was a heavyweight champ. He loves that I box. He’s all into that,” Maiava said.

Maiava’s emergence has lured many college coaches to the Valley Isle. “Coaches come to see him, and they talk with me during the bye weeks about other players,” Baldwin coach Chad Kauha’aha’a said.

Some of those other players include two of Maiava’s classmates. Wide receiver Cody Nakamura, at 6-2 and 215 pounds, is among the top pass-catchers in the state. He often lines up as the solo receiver in Baldwin’s trip sets and catches passes for every route possible, including fades.

“Hopefully, somebody will give him a shot. He has the size, the hands, and he’s athletic,” Kauha’aha’a said. “One thing people will question is probably his speed. He’s not the fastest guy, but he can work on that.”

If Nakamura were a receiver at a prominent O’ahu school, things might be different. “I’m pretty sure a lot of schools would be after him. I’m hoping Kaluka opens doors for the entire league. We’re lucky that this is happening,” Kauha’aha’a said.

Another Bear linebacker, Trenson Himalaya, can also play at the next level. “He’s put on a lot of muscle. He’s having an outstanding season,” Kauha’aha’a said of the 6-foot, 230-pound senior. “He’s a D-I guy. We just have to get something squared away on his academics.”

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