Tupuola-Fetui, the Guy from Pearl City, Harbors Big Hopes for Huskies

The defensive tackle from Hawaii appears to be right on schedule as he awaits his big break with the Washington football team.

Pearl City High in Hawaii offers a sprawling campus on the edge of an island greenbelt and a somber view -- the school looks out on Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.

Five miles from where a surprise bombing air raid sank multiple battleships and fighter planes and pushed the U.S. into World War II, Zion Tupuloa-Feui learned how to play football.

The defensive end found dealing with his sporting future at times no easier than coming to grips with the nation's wartime past. 

Entering 2017, Tupuloa-Feui presented plenty of size and athleticism but he initially had no scholarship offers. It was concerning to him.

"I'm not going to lie," he told 247Sports. "It was, 'Am I any good?' "

Washington convinced him that he was when defensive-line coach Ikika Malloe offered him a scholarship, opening up the recruiting floodgates and bringing other suitors. The three-star recruit wound up picking the UW over California and Vanderbilt.

Tupuloa-Fetui came to Seattle just for a look and surprised himself by making a spontaneous commitment on the spot. The emotional moment left him and his family in tears. 

"We were all at the photo shoot, with the other recruits, and having fun, and then all of a sudden I just said, 'I want to commit. I want to be a Dawg,' " he told 247Sports. "The coaches were all barking and hugging, and the players were really happy for me."

This is another in a series of profiles on prospective UW football starters. While spring practice was canceled because of the pandemic, Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated continues to provide uninterrupted coverage.

Tupuloa-Fetui enters his third year in the Husky program, looking for more playing time. While waiting for Joe Tryon and Ryan Bowman to graduate, he appears to have earned his coaches' trust.

The Huskies used the 6-foot-3, 272-pound sophomore in 12 of 13 games in 2019. He had nine tackles.

Tupuloa-Fetui brings decent mobility and flexibility with a big body. He scored on a 67-yard interception return in high school and caught a pair of touchdown catches as a tight end. 

When he wasn't playing football, he was a fixture on the Pearl City High volleyball team, collecting 12 kills in one match.

While he's the only player who hails from Hawaii's most historic district, Tupuloa-Fetui is one of seven Islanders on the Husky roster. That's important to him.

"I hadn't planned on committing (when he did), but once you get there, and you feel how close things are there," he told hawaiiprepworld.com, "and how things are like a family and  the culture surrounding the program and the coaches and the players there, you just want to be part of it."

That was a pearl of wisdom for the guy from Pearl City.

SUMMARY: Tupuloa-Fetui played in two games as a true freshman, including the Rose Bowl, and a dozen as a redshirt freshman. He seems to be right on schedule and well regarded.

GRADE (1 to 5): He gets a 3. He's played in spurts, but hasn't been given major responsibility by the Huskies. That should come.