Warriors get commitments from three recruits, including a tight end

The Hawaii football team hit the trifecta, securing commitments from three prospects.

The players who committed on Sunday are:

Clark Evans, a junior college All-America tight end from Cerritos (Calif.) College.

Ronald Fields, a cornerback from the College of San Mateo (Calif.).

Gus Lavaka, a lineman from Kearns High School in Utah.

Evans said he accepted the Warriors’ scholarship offer during his 48-hour recruiting visit.

He said he already is enrolled at UH. He returned to California Sunday evening, but will be back in Hawaii on Tuesday to begin classes.

Evans is 6 feet 4 and 250 pounds.

The past season, he caught 31 passes for 444 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns.
Cerritos was the National Conference champion, and advanced to the SoCal Championship game.
Evans was named to the California Community College Athletic Association’s first team. CCCAA honors are considered national awards, meaning Evans is credited with being a junior college All-American.

Under first-year head coach Norm Chow, the Warriors will be switching from a run-and-shoot offense to a pro-set scheme that features a tight end. The Warriors have not used a tight end in a game since 1998, Fred vonAppen’s final season as UH coach.

Evans was a quarterback in high school. In 2009, he was a scholarship quarterback at Colorado. He was a tight end at Golden West College in 2010 and at Cerritos in 2011.

Evans also is skilled in basketball and karate.

Fields is 6 feet 2, 190 pounds, and capable of running 40 yards in under 4.5 seconds.

“He’s a long corner with great ball skills,” San Mateo defensive coordinator Tim Tulloch said. “He has very good awareness in both man coverage and zone coverage.”

San Mateo required its corners to play in two- and three-deep zones, as well as press coverage and man-to-man schemes.

“We asked him to do a lot of things,” Tulloch said.

Tulloch said UH assistant coach Lewis Powell factored greatly in the recruiting. Powell used to train at San Mateo during the summer.

“Lewis Powell is a tremendous recruiter,” Tulloch said. “Norm Chow is outstanding. We’ve known Norm Chow for a long time.”

Lavaka is 6 feet 4 and 300 pounds. He is a four-sport athlete.

He played football in the fall. This semester, he competes in both basketball and wrestling. Last year, he finished second in the super-heavyweight division of the Utah state tournament.
Lavaka also competes in rugby.

Lavaka played both on the offensive and defensive lines for Kearns, which competes on the 5A level. He is projected to play on the offensive line for the Warriors.