UW Offers Big Tackle From Shaq Thompson's High School
Throughout all the turmoil surrounding the Grant Union High School football team over the past year in Sacramento, Alani Noa went about his business.
The Pacers finished 0-9 in a lost season.
Still, Noa came to play.
Nine months ago, the Grant Union school administration made an unpopular decision and pushed his 75-year-old coach Mike Alberghini into retirement — ending the man's 52 years at the school, which included 30 seasons as its iconic football coach.
The 6-foot-4, 320-pound Noa got in a stance as if nothing was different.
Even while he was part of a dismal winless campaign, the Grant junior offensive tackle performed well enough to be named Sierra Foothill League Lineman of the Year.
On Friday, Noa received added reward for his football resilience and persistence when the University of Washington made a scholarship offer to him, his sixth overall.
Alberghini had hoped to coach Noa and the others one more season last fall, but the school turned the team over Carl Reed, an assistant coach and one of his former players. Alberghini was told he could mentor the remaining coaches, but had to give up the team. The school might have done him a favor.
While Grant had gone 2-0 during a pandemic-shortened football season held in the spring of 2021, the Pacers program previously showed signs of decline when it went 1-9 in 2019.
Still, Alberghini was the guy who sent inside linebacker Shaq Thompson and safety C.J. Wallace to the Huskies. As a member of the Carolina Panthers, Thompson remains one of 15 Grant Union High players who have played in the NFL. This is a school with long-term football tradition.
The old coach stepped down with 282 victories, 27 playoff appearances, 7 sectional banners and a state championship in 2008.
Noa, a Class of 2023 recruit, currently holds offers from California, Fresno State, Oregon, USC, Wyoming and the Huskies, a list that's sure to grow.
Whoever gets him will be able to rely on a big tackle who is coachable and unflappable.
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