Utah State and Utah offer Scholarship to Baldwin’s Hoiem

Baldwin’s Jordan Hoiem (left) talks with Lahainaluna coach Bobby Watson at last week’s Maui Football Combine at Lahainaluna Stadium. Hoiem did not test because of an injury, but showed up to support his teammates. Photo by Randy Jay Braun.

By Rodney S. Yap

Hawaii’s hottest high school football recruit received two more scholarship offers following his most recent showing at the All Poly Hawaii Camp at McKinley High School.

Baldwin High School linebacker Jordan Hoiem confirmed Saturday night that Utah State offered him a scholarship on Thursday and Pac-12 school Utah made its offer official Saturday at the conclusion of the three-day, full-pads camp on Oahu.

“The first day was no pads and I was stretching before the afternoon practice when a person from Utah State came up to me and said the coaches at Utah State have been watching me and that they would like to offer me a scholarship,” Hoiem said. “Then earlier this evening, on our way back to Maui, we got a call from (Baldwin) Coach AJ (Roloos), who said Utah offered me a scholarship.”

Baldwin linebacker Jordan Hoiem. Photo by Tom Hauck / ESPNHS.

Roloos said friend and former Baldwin head coach, Chad Kauhaahaa, now coaching the Utes’ defensive ends, called with an official offer after watching Hoiem at the All Poly Hawaii camp, where Kauhaahaa served as one of the camp coaches.

Roloos said Kauhaahaa was very impressed with the boy and said, “He had an awesome camp and showed me enough to pull the trigger.”

“When I got the offer from Utah State that got me pumped up,” said Hoiem, who skipped last week’s Maui Football Combine to rest a tender hamstring in hopes of a strong showing at the All Poly Hawaii Camp.

The decision to rest a week instead of testing with his teammates was easy since Hoiem had just returned from Oregon, where he was named to the All-Combine team in Portland and the All-Nike Training Football Camp Team made up of the best invite-only players in the West.

In early March, the 6-foot-4 junior-to-be became the youngest Maui Interscholastic League football player to received an official Division I football scholarship offer, when Hawaii head coach Norm Chow called the prospect and said, “With the skills you have I know you are going to get other offers, but I wanted to be the first.”

Hoiem said he’s had to deal with sleep depravation since the “shocking” offer by Chow more than three months ago.

“I wasn’t thinking about the big picture a year ago. I was just playing cause I love the game. If anything, I was just thinking I hope a coach sees me or my video by my senior year, and if I’m lucky I’ll get a shot to go play in college.

“I really wasn’t taking it that serious,” he added, “And I never would have imagined back then, what is happening to me now. I can’t even picture myself getting offers.”

Hoiem had trouble describing the excitement and feelings that have kept him awake at night, while motivating him to train harder.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m dreaming,” he said.

“The offers confirm that my hard work is paying off. But I can’t stop here and get complacent. I have to continue to work hard and train and keep adding fuel to the fire. While it feels good, I can’t take any days off and have to continue to get better.”