Whieldon returns to UH

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Two University of Hawai'i football players are back.

Backup quarterback Jason Whieldon, who left the team because of family reasons two weeks ago, returned to school yesterday, UH coach June Jones said.

Also, a CAT scan yesterday revealed safety Leonard Peters is fully recovered from tears to his kidney and spleen, said Dr. Andrew Nichols, the team's physician. Nichols cleared Peters, who was injured during training camp, to compete in contact drills starting today.

Jones said Peters' availability will provide more flexibility for a defensive secondary that could be without injured cornerback Abraham Elimimian for two weeks. Elimimian suffered a pulled right hamstring in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 31-6 victory over Texas-El Paso Saturday in the Sun Bowl.

Jones said he has yet to decide Whieldon's place on the depth chart. An evaluation will be made "when he's ready to play," Jones said.

But Jones said he was pleased Whieldon was able to resolve his problems enough to rejoin the team.

"For him, personally, I am," Jones said. "I feel in life ... he's struggling with some things personally. It's easy to walk away ... sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go. I think he made the right decision to fight through the stuff. I really feel he needs us, you know, a lot, too, as a team. He needs his teammates to help him through the things he's struggling with."

Whieldon was the top backup to starter Tim Chang when he asked for a leave of absence. Shawn Withy-Allen, a fifth-year senior who was elevated to No. 2 last week, threw two scoring passes and ran for another score against UTEP.

Jones said Withy-Allen will play in Saturday's game against Southern Methodist, although Chang, who struggled against UTEP, will remain as the starter. Jones said Chang's erratic play is not traced to the broken right little finger on his throwing hand.

"I just think he doesn't need to make it as hard as it is," Jones said. "The mistakes he's making are brought on by not doing the things he's done a thousand times. He's making it harder than it is. He needs to relax and go play."

Jones said he will work to help Chang emerge from this slump.

"That's why I get paid the big money for," Jones said at his weekly news conference. "I'm paid to coach through these things. I'll get him through it. We'll be better because of it."

With Leonard Peters, who can play both safety positions, cleared to play, strong safety Hyrum Peters can replace Elimimian at cornerback. Yesterday, Hyrum Peters was named the Western Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week after intercepting two passes against UTEP. Hyrum Peters reported to training camp as a cornerback and nickelback, but moved to strong safety soon after Leonard Peters was injured.

Saturday's game against SMU will start at 6:05 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.