[Updated] Hawaii DT Sealii Epenesa (Iolani) Commits To UCLA
by sam_in_hb on Jan 29, 2010 5:51 PM PST
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PrintBumped. GO BRUINS. -N
Just ran across this in the Honolulu press, as it said about 8 minutes ago:
'Iolani School defensive tackle Sealii Epenesa said he has made a verbal commitment to play football for UCLA next season.
Epenesa, a 6-foot-2, 315-pound senior, said he chose the Bruins over Oregon State and Baylor. He visited all three schools this month. Hawaii also made a late offer, and he received earlier offers from Colorado, Washington and Texas Tech.
Hope I am not reporting something that has already been posted. Also hope the story is valid.
I don't know much about this guy and will be doing my homework as soon as I can get this up and posted. But I am certain that he is on Ryan's list of guys we are going after.
Some interesting quotes from Sealli after the jump.
Seali had some interesting comments about his trip to UCLA:
"I always liked them, from the ninth grade," said Epenesa, who was named Interscholastic League of Honolulu Defensive Player of the Year this past season. "My trip (to Westwood) was real good, I got to meet my teammates, and not just them but the (outgoing) seniors, too."
Epenesa said he also attended the UCLA-USC men's basketball game at famed Pauley Pavilion.
"That was my first real (big-time) college basketball game," he said.
Even though basketball games usually don't have a discernible impact on football recruiting (have never seen any data one way or another) that anecdotal comment was interesting given how brutal that game was. I also like the following on on Sealli:
'Iolani coach Wendell Look said Epenesa's agility makes him unique.
"For a big guy, he's able to move in ways other guys his size would have a hard time," Look said. "He has a lot of athleticism."[0xad]
Look said Epenesa's jovial spirit also made him an attractive prospect.
"(Recruiters) all liked him because he's so personable," Look said. "They liked him for the kind of guy he is and what he could bring to their team."
That is great to hear because it will only solidify the positive vibe coming out of CRN's program in recent months. GO BRUINS.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Good find
He is indeed on Ryan’s list. Now we need to secure Heimuli and hopefully someone to replace Moore if he goes elsewhere and I’ll feel a lot better.
Nice
Good find Sam. He’s the only target that I thought could commit before signing day. Once I get another source to confirm, I’ll update my list.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 29, 2010 6:25 PM PST reply actions
Huge kid.
Wondering if he is someone who could start as a true freshman. Rivals doesn’t offer much about him other than he is a 3 star.
Almost seem that he hasn’t been playing the game that long, and might have huge growth potential.
I've never seen him in person
but based on what I’ve been told, I don’t think he’s an impact freshman. He definitely won’t start and will only play if he lights it up over the summer and other guys struggles. He should redshirt, but the guy is massive and I know some people who think that he may have the highest ceiling of any of our DT recruits, committed or targeted. He’s more of a long-term project though.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 29, 2010 6:56 PM PST up reply actions
Beefing up the D-line
Good to see the bruins beefing up on both sides of the line…….the foundation of success in the future
Don't know who the 24 users are on rivals
but they rated him over 4*s. Of course they could just be his friends logging on, but perhaps it says something.
Question for Ryan
I am happy with this commit as this is a position of need. However, lets just say that CRN comes up huge (entirely possible) and is able to secure commitments from Heimuli, Owa, and Zumwalt…….and throw in Jefferson as well, on National Letter of Intent Day. That would be huge. My question is, will we have enough scholies to go around? I know this is jumping the gun, and I am also smart enough to know that should those guys want to be Bruins, they will be. Things just seem to be going so well that it seems logical that at some point we won’t have enough to go around. I know you have probably crunched the numbers. What is your take should CRN blow us all out of the water and get all of those guys. The simple fact that I am even asking this question shows how good of a job CRN has done in changing the recruiting landscape.
That doesn’t even include the possibility of getting Riley, which I don’t think will happen. But with CRN and Co., anything is possible. What is your take?
I'll just give you the numbers
Including Epenesa, we have 19 commits. We will be able to go to 25 if we can get 25 guys we really like. That 19 number also includes Julious Moore, who looks like he will be a academic casualty and another DL, who I’m hearing is unlikely to stick with us. So unless we nab all ten targets I have listed, a couple of whom we don’t really have a chance at anymore, we’re fine.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 29, 2010 8:08 PM PST up reply actions
Cool
Sounds good. Just to confirm, cause I was a little confused. Is Julious Moore the only academic casualty……..or is their another DL who we may lose as well?
The rumor is about DE Marquis Jackson
Other boards are reporting that Jackson may have academic issues. But at this point, there are no official reports that I’ve seen. Until something official comes out, hopefully it’s just a rumor. That may be the DL he’s referring to.
certainly added depth at a position of need
we need help at DT obviously with the loss of BP, but we also lost ward, siewerski, and a bosworth. we need all the DT’s we can get. hopefully marsh will be the immediate guy, or maybe heimuli if we can land him. epenesa (like ryan said) should have an impact a little later down the road.
as for marquis jackson – he’s highly rated, and would help raise stats as far as points go for recruiting class, but (like nottingham) that’s a position we don’t have an immediate need. we still have ayers who was unstoppable at DE, plus we have keenan graham, damien holmes and datone.
not to mention owa is a DE…
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." --John Wooden
Disagree RE: QB Position Need
We need a QB in this class with 3 quarterbacks set to be seniors in 2012-13, just to create some breakup between classes.
I disagree with your disagreement, haha
I think that it would not be the end of the world to go without a QB this class for several reasons.
1. we will not have three QBs as seniors in 2012-2013. At LEAST one will redshirt.
2. even if all three did go out after 2013, a QB from next year’s class would be a redshirt sophomore in his first start, so no big loss.
3. this year’s QB class has been documented and written about in the media as one of the weakest classes in history.
I'm with sponkey
While I’d have liked to have kept Nottingham, I don’t think it’s critical that we get a QB this year. What not getting one this year means though is that we absolutely need one next year.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 30, 2010 11:28 AM PST up reply actions
Agreed
We need to land a good one next year. Hasn’t coach Neu already offered one? Gotta love him getting a head start on guys for next year! From what I hear (I think from you Ryan) next year’s class is pretty well stacked at QB.
I think he's offered two
although which two they are escapes me at the moment. Next year’s QB class is fantastic and California has a few of the top ones so we should be in good position to land a guy we like.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 30, 2010 1:42 PM PST up reply actions
there are two QB's
That have already beeb offered. Can’t think of the names right now but one is a guy from san diego that has an offer from the furd. The other is a kid outta ohio who looks really good. I think he’s a four year started in hs and has offers from everybody.
by King J77 on Jan 30, 2010 3:08 PM PST via mobile reply actions
UCLA vs USC game....
Classic, you would think that game would have scared him away…. Glad, he saw the bigger picture that fluke years can happen.
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