Lee lures football talent to Montana
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
When Tommy Lee was named head football coach at University of Montana-Western last year, you knew it would only be a matter of time before good players from Hawai'i started beating a path there.
That's the way it was at Utah, where as many as 20 Hawai'i high school graduates played in a season during Lee's six years as an assistant, and in his five years as offensive coordinator at Montana.
Lee is the older brother of St. Louis School's recently retired football coach Cal Lee and University of Hawai'i assistant coach Ron Lee. Almost all of Lee's coaching career has been on the Mainland, including 10 years as head coach at Willamette (Ore.), where he was an NAIA All-America quarterback in 1962.
Lee has sold eight current seniors from Hawai'i on coming more than 3,000 miles horizontally and 5,000 feet vertically to the relative wilderness of Dillon, Mont., for college football and a partly paid-for education.
They include second-team all-state quarterback Joel Botelho of Castle.
Half of Lee's Hawai'i recruits are from his brother's state runner-up St. Louis team, including 240-pound running back Prince Brown, a state wrestling champion in 2001. The others are cornerback Chad Adviento, linebacker Kawai Curnan, defensive lineman Seth "Kama" McKeague and wide receiver Keahua Bowman. The first four were second team all-star choices in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
Lee also signed the All-Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation quarterback, Kamoi Rafamonte of Kaua'i High, who will a defensive back, and Ka'ua Adolpho, a defensive end from state champion Kahuku.
Montana-Western already had a small Hawai'i presence in three Baldwin High grads when Lee arrived. Kamakani Rowland rotated at outside linebacker and Taua Cabatbat played running back and on special teams. Former defensive back Kyle Sanchez finished up his degree.
In the short time he had last year, Lee brought in three 2001 St. Louis graduates: cornerback Enoch McKeague and offensive guard Darryl Bryce both started as freshmen, and receiver Sanoe Mokuahi red-shirted.
"I love the area," Lee said. "It's out here alone (60 miles south of Butte on I-15) and that's what I like. I shot my first buck in last fall's deer-hunting season."
He's counting on transplanted Hawai'i players liking it, too.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
• Princeton (N.J.)
First-team all-state midfielder Romy Trigg-Smith of Punahou "has more frequent flier miles than any high school athlete I've ever known," says Princeton coach Julie Shackleford, who signed her. "Romy has gone so unbelievably out of her way to put herself into the most competitive environments possible (playing in many Mainland tournaments). To me, it makes her special."
Princeton has built a top-25 program with a top-20 recruiting class without athletic scholarships. "Romy will be in very good company, playing with the very best players every day, which will only make her better," Shackleford said. Trigg-Smith is from Kailua.
• BYU (Utah)
Charlene Lui, second-team all-state forward for Punahou, is the first player from Hawai'i signed in the seven years of the BYU program. Lui, a 3.8 student from Wai'alae Iki who will receive both athletic and academic scholarships, is projected as a midfielder and defender by the Cougars.
She has been in the Olympic Development Program's regional pool and played on state champion Honolulu Bulls team the past three years.
• George Washington (D.C.)
Aubrey Ehrhorn of Kailua didn't play at Iolani this season so she could get exposure to college coaches at a tournament in San Diego. It worked. She has been accepted a partial scholarship from George Washington.
