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Pearl City senior Zion Tupuola-Fetui became one of the first players from Hawaii to take advantage of new rules that allowed him to sign his National Letter of Intent early, putting his commitment to Washington in ink early Wednesday morning.
The towering defensive end/outside linebacker, who projects to play the BUCK defensive end/linebacker
hybrid spot at UW, always dreamed of playing college football. He certainly looked the part as a junior, standing 6 feet 4 and 240 pounds. However, with no scholarship offers at any level heading into 2017, some doubt started to creep in.
Then everything changed on Feb. 18, 2017.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was thinking, like, ‘am I good at football?’” Tupuola-Fetui recalled. “But then it came full circle once I got that first call.”
Tupuola-Fetui was lounging in his room on a Saturday when he and UW defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe were on the phone. The two chopped it up for a few minutes, and Malloe suddenly gave him the offer he worked his whole life for.
“I have a vivid memory of that day. I knew that I had to call him. I was chilling in my room during the weekend. I called him, he picks up and we’re just talking and talking. Then he said ‘we like what we see’ and then he offers me over the phone,” Tupuola-Fetui said. “I just started tearing up because it was my goal throughout my whole football career. For it to come to fruition was crazy.”
Once the Huskies offered, football at the next level no longer seemed like a pipe dream. Hawaii came calling a few days after, then Oregon State followed. By the time his senior season at Pearl City began, he had eight offers.
He whittled down his top three to Washington, California and Vanderbilt, and was set for a live commitment during Jan. 20’s Polynesian Bowl at Aloha Stadium. He made the trip up to Nashville, Tenn., in late November and said he truly enjoyed his official visit with the Commodores.
But during his official visit at Washington two weekends ago, he decided that there was no point in waiting. Somebody else could take his slot on live television next month. He committed while he was still in Seattle and shut down his recruitment.
“It’s crazy because I didn’t go up there planning to commit at all. I was just able to see the players and see the culture that coach (Chris Petersen) had brought,” he said. “I knew that’s just where I wanted to be. It was my third time there and I really could feel that I could call that place home.”
Tupuola-Fetui, who was named to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State first team on Sunday, was one of eight high school seniors to use the early signing period Wednesday.
Waianae’s Kana’i Mauga, the No. 1-rated prospect in the state, signed with Southern California.
Hawaii landed Saint Louis teammates Chevan Cordeiro and Kai Kaneshiro and added Kamehameha defensive end Jonah Welch, who until Tuesday had been committed to Navy.
Kapolei defensive end Kukea Emmsley (Boise State), Punahou defensive tackle Hale Motu’apuaka (Utah State) and Saint Louis defensive back Isaiah Tufaga (Oregon State) also signed with D-I schools.
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