You don't have to hit the malls this week to understand that the shopping season is in full swing here.

A visit to tomorrow's First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association State Football Championships at Aloha Stadium might suggest the same thing. Apart from the usual Christmas items, there's also apparently a run on linebackers, linemen, etc.

Between states and next week's HUB Goodwill Senior Bowl all-star game, hardly a major college program in the west will go unrepresented in the holiday recruiting crunch. We're told Boise State recruiters remained after the departure of the Broncos and coaches from this week's UH opponent, Washington, will be around for a while.

Indeed, coaches from every Pac-10 school, every WAC member except Louisiana Tech and every Mountain West Conference team but Wyoming have been here — or are soon expected. Not to be forgotten are some Big 12 schools.

"The amazing part," said Keith Amemiya, executive director of the HHSAA, "is they are coming from further east all the time." Tennessee has already established a presence, Notre Dame has been in on occasion and, now, Florida, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Minnesota are poking around.

And, that's just the "name" schools. The smaller ones are a whole wave unto themselves. Apparently, recruiting is a whole tourism growth sector unto itself judging by the rising influx of coaches, scholarship offers in hand, in advance of the Feb. 6 national letter of intent day. Some are already working on 2009.

Of course, if you are a recruiter, where would you rather practice your trade in December, the Dakotas or Hawai'i? You want to be packing thermal underwear or sun screen?

It doesn't hurt that Hawai'i annually ranks in the top 10 per capita for producing college players or puts so many prospects in the NFL. But with the rise of the University of Hawai'i's success with homegrown talent the point is hard to miss. More so when Jordon Dizon (Colorado) and Max Unger (Oregon), among others, come off the Neighbor Islands to star, too.

In that the state tournaments have been a prime showcase for local talent. No longer is it just the Saint Louis and Kahuku players that get to audition. With Division I and II championships, 12 teams now get not only exposure but validation of their talents. The kind that can lead to camps and combines and scholarships.

Increasingly, visitors are coming here intent on taking back more than just macadamia nuts and a tan.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.