UW Pitches Offer at Hawaiian OT Now Playing in Florida
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With its reserves of Hawaiian football talent getting a little on the low side, the University of Washington is in pursuit of an island-cultivated offensive tackle now playing in Florida.
On Saturday, the Huskies offered a scholarship to Alema Iosua, a 6-foot-7, 292-pound lineman and class of 2025 recruit who suits up for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida after transferring from Kamehameha's Kapalama High School near Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
If the UW ultimately can sign him, here's hoping it can keep Iosua in Montlake a lot longer than it did another Kamehameha football player with promise, Kuao Peihopa.
A defensive tackle, Peihopa couldn't control his temper and got into with a member of the program staff this past season and had to leave Kalen DeBoer's Huskies and go home. He now plays for the University of Hawaii.
Iosua, however, has taken a different football route. The 3-star prospect left the islands last year to enhance his college recruitment and it seems to be working.
Iosua received early offers from Hawaii, South Florida and Washington, and he's taken unofficial recruiting trips to such places as Miami and Oregon.
The Huskies currently have just three native Hawaiians — always a staple of the program — on the roster yet each of them could be a starter this coming fall.
Edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui and defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele are expected to open for the UW on the defensive line, while Julius Buelow is trying to claim a starting job at offensive guard. ZTF is a senior while the others are juniors.
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