Peyton Ma'o, a highly regarded linebacker from Arizona, said he will delay the start of his University of Hawai'i football career until at least the 2008 season.

Citing personal reasons, Ma'o said he will relinquish his UH scholarship and attend Arizona Western (junior) College as a freshman in the fall.

"I'm going to go there and play for two years," said Ma'o, who had signed a national letter of intent with the Warriors in February. "Then I'm going to go to UH."

According to NCAA procedure, a football player attending a junior college as a full-time student must earn an associate degree as a prerequisite to playing for an NCAA Division I-A team. Ma'o said he will receive a full football scholarship from Arizona Western.

Ma'o, who is 5 feet 11 and 235 pounds, is a 2006 graduate of Sinaqva High School in Flagstaff, Ariz. He was named the City's Defensive Player of the Year.

In January, he competed in an all-star football game in American Samoa.

Ma'o said he spurned offers from Arizona State and UCLA to sign with the Warriors.

In a February news conference to announce the Warriors' 2006 recruits, UH coach June Jones said: "Peyton is probably the biggest hitter and most fundamentally sound defensive player on this roster (of recruits). If I (were) still in the NFL, I would have drafted him after I saw (his highlight) tape. He, of all of the players, was recruited by the most big schools. But he wanted to come here, so we recruited him actively, and now he has a chance to start as a true freshman."

Later, Jones told The Advertiser: "Peyton Ma'o is the best defensive player I looked at on film. ... He's a big-time player."

The Warriors have several options. They can try to sign another recruit, or award Ma'o's scholarship to a current walk-on player. They also can invite a gray shirt — a recruit who will enroll at UH in January — to join the team for the fall semester. Or they can do nothing.

"It was a hard decision," Ma'o said. "I'll be back there."

Meanwhile, wide receiver Austin Tolliver, the son of former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver will decide on a UH scholarship offer after visiting Hawai'i in December or January.

"Hawai'i is still high on his list," the elder Tolliver said.

As a junior at Captain Shreve High School in Louisiana in 2005, Tolliver caught 64 passes for 1,110 yards.

He has attended football camps at Texas Tech, Southern Mississippi and New Mexico State. He is scheduled to participate in Arkansas' football camp next month. He recently was nominated as a CBS Sports Pre-Season All-America high school player.

Billy Joe Tolliver played for Jones with the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1990s. He said he will accompany his son on the recruiting trip to Hawai'i.

"You know it," Billy Joe said. "I've got to figure out some way to beat June in golf."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.