Ex-Iolani punter chillin' in Wisconsin
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — The drop in temperatures last week was not nearly as welcome to University of Wisconsin walk-on punter R.J. Morse as it was to most others in the state.
Photo courtesy of Iolani School
Morse, an Iolani School graduate from Waipahu, was shivering when the mercury dropped into the 60s Friday after reaching 91 the day before.
One coach says R.J. Morse "could be a heck of a player."
"It was cold, man," he said. "I came down to the cafeteria in my sweats, and coach (Barry) Alvarez told me that it was going to snow in the afternoon."
Morse said he believed Alvarez.
"I was like, 'What?' " Morse said.
He said he has not had time yet to shop for winter clothes with his Hawai'i teammates, freshmen Donovan Raiola and Lyle Maiava. The three players competed on different teams in the same conference last year.
Morse, who has dubbed the trio "The Hawaiian Connection," is 6 feet 1 and 248 pounds. Raiola is a 6-3, 290-pound center from Kamehameha Schools and Maiava is a 6-2, 300-pound defensive tackle from St. Louis School.
Morse is battling sophomore Kirk Munden for the starting job.
"Both of them have punted very well," Alvarez said. "I don't have to make decisions. The players make decisions, according to how they play and perform."
A former nose guard, Morse divided playing time between center and the defensive line as a senior at Iolani.
The Badgers have been trying to get him into "kicking shape" during training camp.
"They've put me on a diet and they have me stretching six times a day," Morse said, adding "I've always been bigger than everybody else."
Morse began playing soccer when he was 5. He was not introduced to football until he entered the ninth grade. As such, he's had little formal training in kicking.
"I never really had a kicking coach, per se," Morse said. "My soccer coach used to work with me, showing me how to hold the ball. But nobody really showed me how to swing (my leg) correctly, or drop the ball correctly or take steps."
But Wisconsin quarterback coach Jeff Horton, whose recruiting territory extends to Hawai'i, said Morse had a reputation of being the best punter in the state.
"Because he was a lineman, too, he was really raw kicking," Horton said. "But he had a strong leg. And we thought if he was given an opportunity to work on his kicking, he could probably be a heck of a player."
