Kamehameha grad will join Warriors

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Reggie Maldonado, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end, has accepted a football scholarship from the University of Hawai'i.

Maldonado, a 2000 Kamehameha Schools graduate, began attending classes at UH yesterday, the first day of the spring semester.

A family member said it is hoped that Maldonado has enough transferrable credits to be eligible to participate in the Warriors' spring practice in March. If not, Maldonado will compete in training camp in August, and have two years to play two seasons.

Maldonado played two seasons at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he was a teammate of UH quarterback Jason Whieldon.

"He's a good football player," Saddleback coach Mike McElroy said. "He moves around really well. He's a good guy, a pretty funny guy, too."

"At times," Kamehameha football coach Kanani Souza said, "he's all personality. He's a good kid, and a good athlete."

At Kamehameha, Maldonado played defensive end as a junior and defensive tackle as a senior. He also earned three varsity letters in basketball.

"At the time, he was a tall skinny guy," Souza said. "But he did a nice job for us, and he did a nice job at Saddleback. He trained hard, and he did all of the things he needed to do. He has a lot of upside."

Maldonado's last football season at Saddleback was in 2001. He recently earned enough credits to enroll at UH.

Maldonado's brother-in-law is entertainer Afatia Thompson, a former UH running back.

Meanwhile, linebacker Tony Tata, a former Saint Louis School and Nebraska football player, is enrolled at UH. He is petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year — and fourth season — of eligibility.

He attended Nebraska for four years, redshirting one year, before leaving in August to tend to a family problem. The NCAA limits players to five years to play four seasons, as well as requiring players to sit out a season when transferring between Division I schools.

Under that time frame, this academic year, in which he is ineligible to play because of the transfer rule, should be Tata's fifth and final year of eligibility. But in petitioning for a sixth year, Tata is arguing that his circumstance for leaving Nebraska is extraordinary.