A 60-minute drive led to a four-year commitment from two of the state's best high school football prospects.

Kahuku High School linebackers Paipai Falemalu and Alema Tachibana yesterday accepted scholarship offers from the University of Hawai'i football team.

They will put their commitments in writing Wednesday, the first day high school seniors may sign binding national letters of intent.

"I wanted to stay home and play," said Falemalu, who was named to The Advertiser's 2007 All-State first team.

Tachibana said: "I talked it over with my family, and this is where I want to be."

Both players appeared to be headed to Mainland colleges. Falemalu had visited California, Washington and Oregon State. Tachibana had verbally committed to Utah, and head coach Kyle Whittingham made a strong late pitch.

But both players were won over when Greg McMackin, the Warriors' newly hired head coach, and defensive coordinator Cal Lee made the historic visit to the North Shore last week. In the previous 12 years, UH head football coaches have met with Kahuku High prospects on the North Shore, but never in their homes on official recruiting visits.

"No disrespect to the other coaches, but they never came down here in a long time," Falemalu said. "When people heard coach Mack was coming here, everybody was getting excited. 'UH never comes down here.' That really showed they wanted us. That was a big plus."

Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said the Warriors entered the recruiting competition only two weeks ago.

Before that, Torres said, "Nobody from UH was coming. To be honest, the Mainland coaches were doing a better job."

But then McMackin was hired as June Jones' successor, and Lee was designated as the point recruiter for Kahuku players. The two previous UH coaches in charge of Kahuku recruiting, Dan Morrison and Jeff Reinebold, joined Jones at Southern Methodist University.

"The kids knew about Cal," Torres said. "But the fact that Mack came down made a big impression. McMackin is genuine. The kids feel that way about him."

Falemalu said: "There's something about the coaching staff. They made me feel good about staying home."

In turn, the Warriors are receiving two multi-skilled athletes with potential to improve physically. Falemalu is 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds. Tachibana is 6-3 and 200.

Last season, the Red Raiders implemented a 3-5 defensive scheme in which Falemalu and Tachibana were aligned as outside linebackers, usually about 4 yards off the line of scrimmage. In some situations, Tachibana was used as a defensive end, setting up in a three-point stance.

In zone-blitz schemes, the safeties would storm the backfield, and Falemalu and Tachibana would retreat, serving as safeties.

"They were good enough to play (pass) coverage," Torres said. "We moved them all over the place. Our defensive coordinator did a good job."

Pac-10 schools were sold on Falemalu's potential, believing he could easily develop into a pass-rushing defensive end.

But Torres knew Falemalu wanted to remain in Hawai'i.

"Paipai grew up as a UH fan," Torres said. "His uncle (Keala Santiago) played for UH. He's a major influence in his life. He grew up around those UH games and tailgates. His family has been major fans."

Falemalu said one of the selling points was McMackin's commitment to the program. McMackin reached an agreement on a five-year contract.

"Coach Mack guaranteed that he'd definitely be here until I graduated," Falemalu said. "That meant a lot. I like that coach Mack is a head coach who is defensive-minded. I'm going to a program with a lot of good linebackers to look up to as role models."

Falemalu visited UH this past weekend. He verbally committed Saturday, but wanted to talk with his parents yesterday morning before confirming his decision.

He said Kahuku alum Vili Nauahi and 'Aiea alum Rocky Savaiigaea were his hosts during the visit.

"They were real down to earth," Falemalu said. "They told us how they felt about coach Mack, how he is a really good guy. He's very sociable."

Torres said: "He's a good kid, a coach's dream, a humble kid. He works very hard. He's a great student. He never gets in trouble. "

Torres also praised Tachibana as a "model" player and student.

"Alema enjoyed his trip to Utah, but he wanted to stay home because of his family," Torres said. "I know Utah made a push."

In the end, Tachibana said: "I wanted to be around my family."

Tachibana's older brother and father were former Kahuku players. In his spare time, he hunts for wild pigs in the area behind his house.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.