Tasini Remains Undecided, Binns to Return to Hawaii?

Pasoni Tasini

By Rodney S. Yap

With the college football recruiting race in full tilt and the National Letter of Intent (NLI) signing day (Feb. 1) only two weeks away, is the Maui Interscholastic League’s top football recruit Pasoni Tasini of Baldwin High any closer to deciding where he plans to play football next fall?

According to one Baldwin coach, Tasini was favoring Utah around the time the Bears’ season ended. Utah’s defensive line coach Chad Kauhaahaa, a former Baldwin High head coach, had apparently turned up the heat before the dead period during the holidays.

“Honestly I don’t know yet,” Pasoni said when asked if Utah was now the frontrunner. “I haven’t made my decision yet, but Utah is a major option for me.”

Tasini, last year’s MIL Male Athlete of the Year, is a two-time MIL Defensive Player of the Year. He has received official scholarship offers from Hawaii, and Pac-12 schools Utah and University of Nevada Las Vegas. Former Baldwin head coach Jimmy Morimoto is head of recruiting at UNLV.

In other recruiting news, last week Scout.com reported Hawaii had offered former Baldwin all-star lineman E.K. Binns a scholarship. Binns left Maui in early July for Cape Coral High School in Florida. Before leaving the islands, Binns, a 6-3, 270-pound all-star tackle, had a strong showing at the Hawaii Nike Sparq Combine and was considered one of the top Hawaii linemen.

E.K. Binns

After one year at Baldwin, Binns decided he would have a better chance of landing a college football scholarship if he returned to the mainland.

“I haven’t talked to anyone or coach from Hawaii and I have not personally received information that I was offered (a scholarship),” Binn’s said. “A Scout.com analyst named Jeff Voght gave my coach the information about the scholarship. I think I would be interested in Hawaii, but I have offers from Dartmouth, FAU (Florida Atlantic University), FIU (Florida International University), Navy and Army.”

Binns and Cape Coral teammate Mike Dumas both took recruiting trips to FAU Owls last weekend.

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Kalei Adolpho

Molokai’s Kalei Adolpho is the MIL’s No. 2 All-Time Female Athlete . . . and if high jumps for the Wahine in the spring, I might have to consider her tri-sport talents in the same league as Nicole Garbin’s soccer and basketball feats from her Baldwin and Oregon playing days.  Let’s not forget that last May Adolpho returned to Molokai with a high jump gold medal. She cleared 5-feet-2 with almost no training or coaching.

Adolpho’s transitioned from volleyball to basketball seamlessly. In her college basketball debut against Denver on Dec. 19, Adolpho had a team-high 15 rebounds. She is averaging 9 rebounds and 7.7 points per game, coming off the bench, averaging 22 minutes per game. The Wahine are 3-4 the seven games Adolpho has played in and has 14 games left before the season-ending WAC Tournament in March.

Recapping Adolpho’s 2011 freshman volleyball season: Sheplayed in 25 matches as a middle blocker…recorded 54 kills (1.06 k/s) to go along with 56.0 total blocks (1.10 b/s)…had seven kills and eight blocks with an .875 attack percentage against Utah State (9/24)…posted six kills and four blocks vs. Fresno State (10/1)…had four kills and two blocks in five-set win over New Mexico State (10/12) on ESPNU…recorded five blocks vs. Utah State (10/21)…posted five kills and six blocks in regular season home finale vs. Louisiana Tech (11/10)…had five kills and two blocks vs. New Mexico State (11/23) in WAC Tournament championship.

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Vernon Podlewski

Former Warrior setter Kala’e Camarillo of Kihei and Kamehameha Maui opened the 18th Annual Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational last Thursday night with a sweet Ukulele rendition of the National Anthem, followed by Hawai’i Pono’i. Beautiful and contemporary.

Nice to see a couple of former MIL greats on the coach courtside at Hawaii men’s basketball, Brandyn Akana, and Hawaii men’s volleyball, Vernon Podlewski.

Akana, the former Molokai and BYU-Hawaii point guard and Podlewski, the former Maui High and Hawaii libero. Podleski also played on a couple of national championship teams, with UH and USA.

The Hawaii men’s volleyball team dropped a close three-set match to third-ranked UCLA, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 Saturday on the final day of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Bruins (5-1) claimed their seventh tournament title in 12 appearances, including Al Scates final one as UCLA head coach. The legendary coach will retire following this season after a 50-year coaching career. UCLA finished the tournament with victories over Lewis, Springfield, and UH and extended its win streak over Hawaii in the tournament to 10 matches.

The 12^th-ranked Warriors (2-3) lost in consecutive nights to No. 9 Lewis and UCLA both matches could easily have gone UH’s way. The Warriors led or were tied in every set against the Bruins including the final two in which UH held a 23-22 lead in Set 2 and were tied at 23 in Set 3.

UCLA setter Kyle Caldwell was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Fellow Bruins Thomas Amberg and Jeremy Casebeer were also named to the all-tournament team along with UH’s Steven Hunt and JP Marks, Lewis’ Jay Petty, and Springfield’s Angel Perez.

Hawaii will make its first road trip of the season with a two-match Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series against No. 7 Pepperdine, Friday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.