Posted at 3:04 p.m., Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Leilehua lineman commits to Warriors
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
"I wanted to stay home," said Laurel, who also was recruited by Oregon State, New Mexico State and Nevada-Las Vegas.
Laurel, who is 6 feet 3 and 255 pounds, lived in North Carolina and Ohio before moving to Hawai'i at the start of his sophomore year. He started for the Mules basketball team, but did not play football at Leilehua until this past season.
Rod York, who coaches the Leilehua defensive linemen, said Laurel had a team-high seven sacks.
Laurel gained noticed when he faced Mililani High School's Micah Kia, considered to be the state's best high school offensive lineman. In that game, Laurel had seven tackles and a sack.
Laurel can bench press 225 pounds 18 times and run 40 yards in 5.1 seconds.
He has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 and already had received an NCAA-qualifying ACT score. Still, he is taking the SAT because "I know I can do better," he said.
