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It’s a rarity in these parts for a football player to get an offer from perhaps the most storied college football program of all-time, Alabama.
Over here in the Pacific Ocean in the 808, we know about Tua Tagovailoa’s path from Saint Louis School to the Crimson Tide and into the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. His brother Taulia also got an offer to Alabama after a few years playing at Kapolei High and went on to the Crimson Tied before transferring to the University of Maryland.
Not so well known is that Peter Kim, a Kaiser grad who is now a Hawaii restaurateur, was a kicker for Paul “Bear” Bryant’s Crimson Tide squads from 1979 to 1982.
Now it’s possible Aiea’s Preston Taumua could take that path to the SEC after receiving a scholarship offer from Alabama last week.
Taumua, however, is a long way away from committing to any school. He is only a junior and he has offers from a bunch of other schools, including Ohio State, Oregon and Alabama’s SEC rival Florida.
Bedrock Sports Hawaii caught up with Taumua on Wednesday via cell phone, and the 6-foot-5, 320-pound left tackle talked a little bit about the recruiting process so far.
“They (the Crimson Tide) have been watching my game,” Taumua said. “They like my work ethic and that I move constantly after the play and it looks like I’m dominating on every play. And when I got that offer (previously) from Oregon, I was surprised and really happy. I was speechless, literally — I was not talking to anybody while I was on that whole Oregon trip. It was like, ‘I need to take all this in first.’ ”
Wendell Say, the Aiea coach, gave some insight about the Taumua college sweepstakes, too.
“Oregon calls a lot and they do a good job bringing in linemen,” the coach said. “And that is Preston’s dream school. They call me once a week or text me and call him a lot to make sure that he knows he’s not forgotten. And Miami called me yesterday. They really like Preston and they’ll probably be offering soon.”
Taumua, Say and the rest of Na Alii (9-3) continue their season-long road swing (due to campus stadium upgrades) Saturday night in the Division I semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Konawaena (9-1) on the Big Island. The school is trying to win its first state title since 2003, when Na Alii were in D-II.
The others schools who have offered FBS D-I scholarships to Taumua are Arizona, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah.
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Note: Look for a feature story on Preston Taumua to run on the Hawaii Sports Radio Network website (HawaiiSportsRadio.com) in the very near future. The link will be added here when it is posted.
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Bedrock’s Most Updated Football Recruiting List:
College Football Recruiting: Hawaii High School Classes of 2023, 2024, 2025 And 2026
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
PAC-5’s Blade Kaululaau Is Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s WEEK 15 Outstanding Football Player
WATCH: 24 Videos Of Waipahu’s 49-41 D-II State First Round Victory Over Kapaa
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The season as it unfolds:
