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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, January 30, 2003

UH gets recruit from nation's No. 10 team

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The top defensive player for the country's 10th-best high school football team has accepted a football scholarship from the University of Hawai'i.

Chris Cole of Mission Viejo (Calif.) High will sign a national letter of intent with UH on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA signing period for football prospects.

What's more, slotback Jason Ferguson, who scored 34 touchdowns as a junior for Fairfax High in Los Angeles, has accepted a UH football scholarship that is post-dated for January 2004.

Cole, a defensive lineman who is projected to play weak-side linebacker at UH, said, "I like the University of Hawai'i, and I like the way the team plays. It's like a family."

Cole was named as the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division II Defensive Player of the Year for the 2002 season. The divisions are based on enrollment. He was the most valuable player of the South Coast League.

Mission Viejo won the CIF Southern Section Division II championship last season, and finished No. 10 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 rankings.

In the USA Today regional rankings, Mission Viejo (14-0) finished third among all California high school football teams last season, behind national champion De La Salle and second-ranked Los Alamitos.

"We have a lot of players going to a lot of colleges, but we're sending our best to Hawai'i," said Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson, the father of Tampa Bay Buccaneer backup quarterback Rob Johnson. "I'm fired up. I love the Islands, and now I'll have one of my players there."

Cole is 5 feet 9 and 226 pounds.

"But size doesn't matter to him," Johnson said. "We play a tough schedule, and he handles himself against the best. He's very good. He knows how to play."

Cole can run 40 yards in 4.6 seconds.

He power trains by squat-lifting 500 pound weights. He can bench press 330 pounds.

Johnson said Cole was a dominant down lineman, despite facing repeated size disadvantages against opposing offensive linemen.

"I just play my heart out," Cole said. "I always play my hardest. It's not the size, but how you play."

Cole was born in New Zealand, and he lived there until his family moved to California six years ago. A competitive rugby player since he was 5, he did not begin to play football until his freshman year at Mission Viejo.

"He loves the sport," said his mother, Lorna Cole. "I think he more or less has some kind of talent."

Cole also is an accomplished dancer. As a member of his cousin's entertainment troupe, Cole performs the hula and haka at weddings and parties.

"We have a lot of musicians in my family," he said. "It's part of my culture."

Cole visited UH last weekend, and was scheduled to take two other recruiting trips. But he decided to cancel those visits and commit to UH.

"Hawai'i, in a lot of ways, is similar to New Zealand," he said. "I like how the local people act like a family and take care of each other."

He also said he was impressed with UH coach June Jones and assistant coach Dan Morrison.

"I like how the coaching staff treated me," he said. "They were fair and understanding. You don't get that at other universities."

Ferguson received scholarship offers from UCLA and Nebraska before suffering a severe knee injury last summer at the Nike Camp.

But his knee is nearly healed, and Ferguson said he welcomes sitting out the fall semester before joining the Warriors next January.

"It gives me an extra year to get stronger," he told The Advertiser last night.

His rehabilitation has paid off in the classroom. Ferguson's SAT score has improved from 830 to 1,010.

As a junior, the 5-foot-6 Ferguson amassed 3,700 all-purpose yards and 34 touchdowns. "That's not a typo," Fairfax coach Shane Cox said. "I've got every one on tape."

Ferguson can run 40 yards in an electronically timed 4.5 seconds (he was hand-timed at 4.4 seconds) and 100 meters in 10.8 seconds.

At Fairfax, Ferguson was used as a kick returner, wide receiver and slot receiver.

"When we needed a change of pace," Cox said, "we would stick him at tailback. He has many talents."

Even before suffering the injury, Ferguson listed UH as one of his top three choices. His best friend is Sean Stennis, a UH wide receiver, and he watched satellite telecasts of the Warriors' games. Cox has several relatives living in Hawai'i.

"I noticed all of the receivers were my size," Ferguson said. "I think I fit the offense perfectly. I want to play slot and return kicks. And (the Warriors) compete, they definitely compete."

Ferguson will visit UH this weekend, with Stennis serving as his host.

Cox said: "Hawai'i is getting a great player, and Jason is so happy to be going there."