From left: Hina, Fenton Lee (grandfather), Taehi, Tautua, Tevarua and Winona Lee (grandmother).
Photo courtesy of Tevarua Tafiti.
Five times a day, sometimes more, Tevarua Tafiti calls Winona Lee.
“I call my grandma a lot,” the Punahou sophomore said.
His phone has been busy at other times, too. Wisconsin made a football scholarship offer to the 6-foot-3, 208-pound defensive end on Tuesday. Nebraska offered on Wednesday. That adds up to 10 offers from FBS programs. For a long time, the run of offers on the speedy playmaking defender felt surreal. Not so much now.
“It feels more real. I didn’t really expect getting this much offers during the quarantine. I was shocked,” he said.
When Tafiti posted the news of the Nebraska and Wisconsin offers on social media, the response was a tsunami.
“My Twitter is going off. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s mostly Wisconsin people. The fan numbers are really big for Wisconsin and Nebraska,” said Tafiti, who was offered by Michigan just four days earlier. “I’ve actually been talking to Wisconsin before Michigan.”
The roll of offers is due to his talent and performance. His sophomore stats: 45.5 tackles, including 11 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. He forced three fumbles and returned one against Campbell for a 70-yard touchdown. Ultimately, his 3.4 grade-point average is a crucial factor for recruiters.
Defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield is the pipeline master to the islands.
“Coach Inoke. He’s the Hawaii recruiter. He’s very cool guy. I just talked to him this morning. He’s a family guy. He has kids around my age, too,” Tafiti said. “They’re going to use me mostly as an edge rusher.”
Breckterfield starred at Damien before becoming an All-American defensive end at Oregon State in 1998. He later played in the CFL before settling into coaching.
“He just says keep on growing and get a better feel of the game. Keep pushing hard, don’t get too cocky about all these things,” Tafiti said.
Nebraska defensive line coach Tony Tuioti is a former Kalaheo head coach. He played at Hawaii, and later coached at Silverado High School in Las Vegas before becoming a college coach.
“He’s a family man, too. They’re the only big school in their state. We talked about the atmosphere and the fan base. Over 90,000 fans are at their home games, Tafiti said.
Nebraska defensive line coach Tony Tuioti is a former Kalaheo head coach. He played at Hawaii, and later coached at Silverado High School in Las Vegas before becoming a college coach.
“He’s a family man, too. They’re the only big school in their state. We talked about the atmosphere and the fan base. Over 90,000 fans are at their home games, Tafiti said.
The offers aren’t about to stop. Other programs with interest include USC, Stanford, Rutgers and UCLA.
With parks on Oahu now open to small, socially-distanced groups, Tafiti is getting consistent workouts at a nearby park with his cones and ladder. The workload of online schooling continues. He keeps tabs with the 10 schools that have offers to him.
“I call all the other coaches that offered me every week,” he said.
Most of all, he stays in touch with grandma. He misses her cooking.
Lockdown staples update
TV shows/movies
“I’m actually watching this Netflix show called Kim’s Convenience. I love it. That show’s amazing. I’m on Season 4 already.”
Chores
“I’ll give me an A-minus.”
Offer list
Arizona State
Hawaii
Louisville
Michigan
Nebraska
Nebraska
Oregon
Oregon State
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Comments