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Tausili Akana, who grew up on Oahu’s North Shore and played the majority of his high school ball at Skyridge High in Utah, was the 34th highest prospect in the most recent Class of 2023 college football recruiting class.
By Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s count, Akana had 45 D-I FBS offers. That number is more than double the amount of offers received by the top Hawaii recruit in the Class of 2022 a year ago — Punahou linebacker/defensive end Tevarua Tafiti, who had 22 offers and wound up going to Stanford
Akana, meanwhile, happened to pick the same place as the No. 1 recruit nationally, Arch Manning. Both will be going to the University of Texas, where another Hawaii kid, Kahuku linebacker Liona Lefau, is headed.
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Manning, the son of Cooper Manning (Peyton and Eli Manning’s brother and Archie Manning’s son), played quarterback at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
“With this next class coming in, we’re going to be doing something special,” Akana said on a YouTube video by 247sports.com.
You can watch that video from last month — in which Akana makes his Longhorns commitment at about the 4-minute mark — here:
Liatama Uiliata Proves It’s Never Too Late
Waipahu receiver, defensive back and quarterback Liatama Uiliata had one of the most memorable Hawaii high school football seasons in recent history.
From the moment he stepped on the field to the moment he finished it, he was a mighty two-way danger to all of the D-I teams he faced.
His penchant for uncanny moves, speed, sure-mindedness, comebacks and flat-out ability caught the eye of University of Hawaii coach Timmy Chang, who gave Uiliata a late offer — and the Marauder breakout star accepted it and signed.
Before the season (and late in the season, for that matter), Uiliata had no Division I offers.
Two questions about the UH freshman-to-be’s size are going to come up.
>> 1. Is he 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds (from his Twitter bio) or 6-0, 200 (from his UH bio)? He seemed to be the former when looking at him play, but hey, he may have grown since then.
>> 2. Will his small physical stature hold him back at the D-I college level?
In answer to that second question, my opinion is no, it won’t hold him back. He was that good. But with these types of things, you can never tell.
Liatama Uiliata talked about his commitment to the Rainbow Warriors with KHON-2’s Alan Hoshida in the following video:
One of #HawaiiHSFB's most explosive players finally finds a home with the home-state program, @HawaiiFootball. #Waipahu's Tama Uiliata joins the Rainbow Warriors #NSD23 class, saying it's a perfect fit for both family & football #Cover2
📝👉https://t.co/VXbQPFEXJs▪️ @__UceJuice2 pic.twitter.com/9PNxj0kYx4
— Alan Hoshida (@AHoshidaSports) December 21, 2022
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
>> FOCUS ON FOOTBALL — Waipahu’s Liatama Uiliata Radiates 2-Way, Next-Level Talent
