LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett have made famous quantum leaps from high school basketball to the NBA, but three years ago, Kahuku's B.J. Beatty made a jump that might be even more rare.

As a 160-pound defensive lineman, Beatty went from Ko'olauloa Midgets football to the Kahuku varsity as a freshman.

"It was a big jump, it was scary," said Beatty, now a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior. "All of a sudden, I was playing with guys I used to admire from the sidelines."

Now, Beatty is the player future Red Raiders can look up to. His lightning-bolt rushes from the defensive end position have caused havoc for offensive tackles and quarterbacks all season, leading a Kahuku defense that has posted eight shutouts and allowed only 46 points in 11 games.

B.J. is the same kind of menacing force his father, Byron, was for the Red Raiders in 1986, when he was named the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division Defensive Player of the Year. That year, Kahuku had seven shutouts overall and allowed only 12 points in eight regular-season games.

"Everybody tells me he played reckless, that the ball-carrier had no chance against him," B.J. said of Byron, who was a 6-1, 201-pound linebacker. "When I was growing up, my grandma always reminded me that I had a lot to live up to."

B.J. took the fast track, playing a little bit of offensive line in Pee Wee football before switching over to defensive line for good.

"Once I moved, I was stuck over there," B.J. said.

It proved to be a perfect fit.

His skills were so advanced that in 2002, Byron — who was then Kahuku's varsity co-defensive coordinator — decided B.J. should skip JV football altogether and go straight into the defending state champion's roster.

"I thought he would learn more playing on the varsity, so I kind of threw him into the fire," Byron said. "I wasn't worried that he was only a freshman, or that he might not get a lot of playing time. The biggest thing was practicing against the bigger boys. He got to learn how to play the finesse game."

The daunting introduction into Kahuku's varsity paid dividends in B.J.'s sophomore year, when he was named to the OIA Red Conference all-star first team and was an Advertiser All-State second-team selection.

He repeated both honors last season, and this year he has impressed enough college coaches to receive interest from Utah, Boise State, UNLV, Brigham Young, Hawai'i, New Mexico State and Colorado.

All of them have made scholarship offers except Boise State, which has offered a recruiting visit, and Colorado, where his mother's brother, former Kahuku star and current Jacksonville Jaguars starting guard Chris Naeole, was a standout offensive lineman. B.J. said he will wait until after this week to narrow down his choices and plan his trips.

"The first (factor) is education," said B.J., who carries a 3.2 grade point average. "The second is I want to see where I can help the most on the different teams."

B.J. is projected to be a college linebacker, the same position his dad played at Brigham Young. Byron said he is not pushing B.J. into any specific direction during the recruiting process.

"I told him it's his decision," Byron said. "He's the one who's going to have to live in that place for the next five years, so it's totally up to him."

In the meantime, B.J. and the rest of the Red Raiders (10-1) are focusing on Friday's state championship game against Punahou (11-2). Kahuku gained 419 yards in last Friday's semifinal victory over Wai'anae, but the biggest cheer of the night came when the Red Raiders stuffed the Seariders on fourth-and-goal from the 3 late in the third quarter.

"We take a lot of pride in not letting the other team cross the goal line," B.J. said. "When we gave up those two touchdowns to 'Aiea (in a 26-16 OIA title victory on Nov. 11), we were kind of bummed. We decided we're going to work even harder the next couple weeks."

Along with nose guard Kaniela Tuipulotu and linebacker Micah Wily, Beatty helped Kahuku post an astounding 11 sacks against 'Aiea, then limited Wai'anae to just 97 total yards, including only 34 on the ground.

And most importantly, zero points.

"It's mostly the work ethic," B.J. said. "We take pride in working hard, and it carries over into the games."

Byron, who used to stay up into the wee hours studying film, nodded his head. He stepped down from his coaching position this season and is enjoying watching B.J. — which stands for Byron Jr. — from the bleachers.

"My time is over," said Byron, who also was the OIA East Player of the Year in basketball. "This is his time now."

Red Raiders' Beatty an impact player

Senior defensive end terrorizes opposing teams with his speed off the edge

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.