Academics top priority for ex-Crusader Robins
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Talking about your state-of-the-art weight room and how many times your games are on national TV is not always the best college football recruiting pitch.
Junior college All-American Iosefa Robins said he turned down Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina State because the coaches at Southern Utah told him that education was their No. 1 priority.
Robins, a 2000 Saint Louis School graduate from Nu'uanu, played the past two seasons at Snow junior college in Utah because he did not qualify academically after he signed with Utah three years ago.
He got only an honorable mention from Interscholastic League of Honolulu coaches at Saint Louis, but grew into a 6-foot-4, 303-pound first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America offensive tackle at Snow.
The big-name football schools came calling, but "I felt more comfortable with Southern Utah's coaches," Robins said. "They seemed to care about my education more.
"They asked me what I wanted to do. I said, 'Graduate.'
'OK,' they said, 'that's the first priority.' "
Gary Andersen, who had recruited Robins for Utah when he was defensive line coach there, is the new head coach at Southern Utah, an NCAA I-AA football program in Cedar City.
"We were not just telling him what he wanted to hear," Andersen said.
"What it came down to was that he felt like our No. 1 concern with these kids was to do everything we can to help them to get their degree. We are extremely active with them academically. That was the big key in his decision."
Robins said: "I prayed about it. It felt like the right thing to do."
Robins, who is a cousin of Hawai'i's volleyball Robins clan, said he plans to major in sports medicine. He did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements out of high school but has a 2.8 grade-point average at Snow.
Expectations are high for Robins in Cedar City. "We expect him to be a major contributor right away," Andersen said.
Southern Utah will run a wide-open offense, similar to the University of Hawai'i's.
"The offensive tackles are a huge key to what we do offensively," Andersen said. "We need guys who can dominate the game — big, strong, physical kids who can run. (Robins) is a great pass protector and run blocker, and is very sharp."
Andersen said he also "expects big things" from junior defensive end Major Salanoa (Kahuku '98, of La'ie), a returning starter. "He's 6-3, 280 and can run, and he has had an extreme quality off-season," Andersen said.
Robert Milliken (Ka'ahumanu Hou, of Makawao), a redshirt junior kicker who transferred after playing two years at Dana (Neb.), also was on last year's Southern Utah roster.
Andersen hopes to take over recruiting the North Shore where Utah left off when Ron McBride, who was immensely popular among his Polynesian players, was fired in November. For the first time in more than a decade, Utah did not sign anyone out of the North Shore this year.
• Snow (Utah) JC Iosepa Robins' teammates at Snow last season included freshman Mike Palufu (Kahuku, of Lai'e), who started at cornerback, and freshman Manu Huanga (Leilehua), a backup running back.
Coach Jeff Kilts has not signed anyone from Hawai'i so far for next season because "it's a bad budget year in Utah" and he has not been able to make a recruiting trip here. Kitts said, however, that he expects to get 6-3, 310-pound defensive lineman Tolifili Liufau (Saint Louis), who signed with Washington State but whose tests scores have yet to meet NCAA requirements.
