Man oh man oh man.
It never ends. Hawaii has landed quarterbacks ALL OVER the nation.
The latest is a transfer. Dillon Gabriel, a former Mililani star and a top-notch performer at UCF the past few years, is going to UCLA.
Former Mililani and UCF standout Dillon Gabriel is going to Los Angeles to play for the UCLA Bruins. (Image credit: Dillon Gabriel’s Twitter feed.)
Gabriel was gracious enough to field some questions from Bedrock Sports Hawaii early Friday afternoon.
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Author’s note: I wrote a story about Dillon Gabriel for the first time in 2015 when I worked as a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser/Hawaii Prep World. You can read that here: Freshman Gabriel Debuts For Trojans. He was just getting his amazing trajectory at the position started. Later that season, he took over for an injured McKenzie Milton, who went on to a super career at UCF and finished up at Florida State.
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On Friday, Dillon, the son of former Hawaii star quarterback Garrett Gabriel, had a lot to say about his hometown of Mililani, his incredible time at UCF and his future with the Bruins.
First things first: the town of Mililani and his former team the Mililani Trojans.
“I spoke with (Trojans) coach Rod (York) this morning after he texted me,” Gabriel said. “He had nice words of encouragement. I love that guy to death. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve had in my life and was a real positive influence on me. He created a good mind-set and really shaped me into who I am today.”
Mililani (5-2), ranked No. 3 in the Bedrock Top 10, plays No. 2 Saint Louis (5-3) on Saturday in the Open Division semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
“I still keep up with Mililani football and my dad coaches the basketball team there, so I’ve got a lot of ties there and I know they’ll get the job done (against Saint Lous and beyond),” Gabriel added.
And, about UCF, the school he is leaving:
“That’s a place I’m so grateful for and I met so many great people and made a lot of great relationships,” he said. “It is extremely hard to leave. I love it there. That’s the place that’s my second home and why I’m here (going to UCLA) today. In family discussions, this was my best decision for my future and I have only good things to say.
And so it’s on to Los Angeles, where UCLA is 8-4 (with the Holiday Bowl remaining against North Carolina State on Dec. 28 in San Diego) and may be on the upswing with former Oregon coach Chip Kelly in charge.
“I’m super excited for the future,” Gabriel added. “I’m stepping in to a great situation. I have a lot of trust in seeing what coach Kelly has done there and also seeing what he did with Marcus (Mariota) at Oregon. I caught up with Marcus and he had all good things to say about coach Kelly.”
Gabriel, who missed all but three games with a collarbone injury for the Knights this season, has three years of eligibility left and is thankful for the position he’s in for the future.
“We prayed on it, had conversations with my family and I took the two visits,” he said. “I really knew this is where I wanted to be. It’s a great opportunity and I’m grateful to be a part of the UCLA team. And I feel the team is on the verge of doing some great things. They’re having a great season with two super close losses (40-37 to Fresno State and 34-31 to Oregon). I’m hungry and excited. I really know this is where I want to be. I hope to be a great teammate, bring some great things and be flexible to do what they want, too. I want to play ball and win.”
Dillon Gabriel’s UCF passing stats
>> 2021: 70 completions, 102 attempts, 814 yards (9 TDs, 3 INT
>> 2020: 248-413-4—3,570 (32 TDs, 4 INT)|
>> 2019: 236-398-3—3,653 (29 TDS, 7 INT)
Dillon Gabriel’s Mililani passing stats
>> 2018: 279-492-13—3,747 (38 TDs, 13 INT)
>> 2017: 228-368-8—2,973 (32 TDs, 8 INT)
>> 2016: 192-339-14—2,656 (28 TDs, 14 INT)
>> 2015: 46-82-1—472 (7 TDs, 1 INT)
