Another UH football recruit won't play this season

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Another highly regarded recruit will not play for the University of Hawai'i football team this season.

Tyrone Brown, a linebacker from Palmdale, Calif., will enroll at UH this month as a partial-qualifier, meaning he can receive the full benefits of a football scholarship and practice with the team, but is restricted from playing in any games this season.

Brown did not meet the criteria to play as a college freshman. The NCAA determines eligibility using a sliding scale ranging from a 2.0 grade-point average in high school and 1,010 SAT score to a 2.5 GPA and 820 SAT score.

Brown was classified as a partial-qualifier, meaning he fell in the range from a 2.52 GPA and 820 SAT to a 2.75 GPA and 720 SAT.

Federal privacy laws prevent UH from disclosing Brown's high school GPA and college-entry test scores.

But school officials acknowledged that Brown is a partial-qualifier, and that he will be put on scholarship immediately. He will be eligible to play next year and, if he earns a bachelor's degree before August 2005, he will regain the season of eligibility he lost.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Brown can run 40 yards in 4.43 seconds and bench press 380 pounds. At Highland High, he was used as a running back, linebacker and placekicker. He also earned letters in track and wrestling.

Brown, a 1990 Highland graduate, attended Antelope Valley College this past academic year, but did not play football.

He turned down offers from Texas A&M, Oregon State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Washington to sign with UH in February.

Earlier, defensive tackle Isaak Sopoaga of the College of the Canyons (Calif.) confirmed he needed another semester to earn an associate degree, an NCAA eligibility requirement for a junior-college transfer. All-State players Lokahi Travis, an offensive lineman from Kailua High, and Justin Faimealelei, a wide receiver from Kaimuki High, have announced they will postpone their UH careers for academic reasons. They are expected to eventually join the Warriors.