Top UH football recruit will sit out next season

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

One of the University of Hawai'i football team's top recruits will not be eligible to play this season.

Defensive tackle Isaak Sopoaga needs another semester to earn his associate degree, an NCAA requirement for a player transferring from a junior college, and is not expected to enroll at UH until January.

UH assistant coach Rich Miano, who recruited Sopoaga, said "he needs to work on his academics during the fall semester. He'll deal with that and, hopefully, we'll have him for the next two years."

UH originally recruited Sopoaga when he was a high school senior in American Samoa. Instead, Sopoaga decided to attend College of the Canyons in California, where he was named to the junior college All-America team as a sophomore.

Sopoaga received scholarship offers from Nebraska, Texas A&M and several Pac-10 schools before choosing the Warriors.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Sopoaga can bench press 450 pounds, run 40 yards in 4.75 seconds and, according to Miano, dunk a basketball off a 360-degree move.

Kenny Niumatalolo, a former UH quarterback and assistant coach who is now an assistant at UNLV, described Sopoaga as the most talented recruit in the country.

"We'd love to have him," Miano said. "He would have been a huge asset. But academically, there are some things he needs to work on."

If Sopoaga did not enroll in a four-year college for the 2001-2002 academic year — the length of his commitment, according the letter of intent he signed in February — he would be eligible to be recruited again, although he would have to redshirt during the 2002 season if he signed with another school.

But Miano said Sopoaga has confirmed he will enroll at UH soon after earning his associate degree.

Miano said the NCAA still has not ruled on running back Afatia Thompson's petition to play this season. Thompson, who entered UH as a special admittance, was supposed to have completed his eligibility last December. But he is seeking an extra year through either a medical hardship or special circumstance.

Thompson, who is on track to graduate this year, had early academic problems following the death of his older brother.