With their first high school football all-star game tonight, Polynesian Bowl officials want to make it the biggest one out there.

They’re well on their way to getting there after announcing an impressive list of players already committed to the second Polynesian Bowl in 2018.

Among the list of names is Mililani alumnus Palaie Gaoteote, a five-star linebacker who transferred to Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and is rated the No. 11 overall prospect by Scout.com, and five-star quarterback Jacob Sirmon from Bothell, Wash., the No. 16 overall recruit by ESPN.com.

“Our vision is clear — to build the Polynesian Bowl into the Pro Bowl of high school all-star games,” Jesse Sapolu, chairman and co-founder of the Polynesian Bowl, said on Thursday.

The first annual game, which includes 20 of ESPN’s top 300 recruits along with 37 players from Hawaii, is tonight at 6 at Aloha Stadium.

Former Saint Louis quarterback and Honolulu Star-Advertiser offensive player of the year Tua Tagovailoa flew in Wednesday night, but Polynesian Bowl officials were notified Tuesday he was not eligible.

The NCAA prohibits student-athletes from participating in all-star games after starting classes in college.

The bowl game filed an appeal with the NCAA, but had not heard back by late Friday.

“This is the best of the best, four stars, five stars,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s an honor to be here, even if I can’t play. It would be fun, good fun, if I can play. I really want to.”

The game features six commitments to Washington, which advanced to the College Football Playoff, five commits to Michigan and three each to Southern California and Oregon.

Thirty-seven Hawaii players have also been added to the mix, giving one last opportunity to shine for any college football programs watching.

Kamehameha senior linebacker Andrew Aleki added a big offer from Utah in the past week and will visit the Utes next weekend before making a decision.

Aleki, who was drafted to the team captained by Marcus Mariota and coached by June Jones, said after Thursday’s practice that it’s been a lot easier playing for Jones than for the team coached by Dick Tomey.

“Compared to Team (Ronnie) Stanley, we’re chilling, but we’re still focused for the game,” said Aleki, who also holds offers from Hawaii, Air Force, San Diego State, UNLV, Oregon State, San Jose State and Washington State. “They’ve been running gassers.”

Baldwin’s Mango Finau and Maui’s Feleti Afemui are representing the Valley Isle in the game, while Kapaa’s Mo Unutoa is the lone representative from Kauai.

Unutoa, who is 6 feet 5 and 280 pounds, has drawn a lot of praise from coaches and has managed to score 11 college offers despite playing Division II football.

Tonight’s game has given him the opportunity to compete with the best.

“They only chose, I think, about 75 players from around the world, and for all of us (from Hawaii), including me, to be chosen as one of them means a lot,” Unutoa said. “We’ve been practicing a lot of mental stuff. We haven’t really gone full on or full out, hard-hitting, or anything like that but more fundamentals getting ready for the game. Then we can go full out.”

The game comes at a time a lot of these kids are trying to make their college decisions. Unutoa has already visited Oregon State, Virginia, Washington State and BYU and will squeeze in another trip to Utah next weekend before making his decision.

This week has been a welcome distraction to put the pads back on and get back on the field more than two months after the high school season ended.

“It’s been really busy — this whole recruiting thing and everything — but I really find it fun, Unutoa said. “It hasn’t been that stressful. I really like the process, but I’m looking forward to making my decision at the end of the month.”

The game will be shown live on ESPN3 to all non-Hawaii residents and will be broadcast for local viewers the next night on KGMB at 7 p.m.

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The Star-Advertiser’s Dave Reardon contributed to this report.