There were four big question marks early Wednesday morning.

Two were answered at the annual Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance letter-of-intent signing ceremony at the Sheraton Waikiki.

Who knew that it would be mild-mannered, football superhero Vavae Malepeai shocking the world. The Mililani senior running back pulled the stunner of the day, signing a binding National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Southern California instead of Oregon.

Another All-State running back, Wayne Taulapapa of Punahou, donned an orange and navy blue Virginia hat. He’s going to be a pioneer of sorts as the first island football player to play for the Cavaliers.

“I’m very happy. The past three months have been very stressful,” said Taulapapa, whose final three choices were BYU and Navy, along with Virginia. “The (Virginia) coaches believe in me and believe in what I can do. I had a visit a few weeks ago and it was very nice. Academics and athletics, they play in the ACC. That’s huge.”

Virginia also is willing to honor his signing after serving a Morman mission, he said.

At Kahuku, the other two mysteries were solved. Outside linebacker Hirkley Latu and defensive end Bradlee Anae signed their letters during a mid-morning ceremony. Latu signed with BYU while Anae inked his letter to Utah.

The shocker of the day, though, was Malepeai’s choice. For a year, Malepeai had pledged his allegiance to Oregon. As one of the state’s top rushers in history — he owns the mark for career rushing touchdowns — Malepeai said it all changed with an on-campus visit by USC coaches, including head coach Clay Helton, two weeks ago.

“They’ve impressed me the whole time, but since I was committed (to Oregon), I was just blocking them out. Just seeing the head coach out there, seeing what he had to SAY, that meant a lot,” Malepeai said.

Turning down Oregon and its potent offense may seem odd, but Malepeai’s running style could be a better fit at USC.

“They go under center, they go from the gun and some pistol. They go from all angles, a little bit of old school mixed with new school. The offense is kind of evolving,” he said.

Malepeai and his former quarterback and teammate, McKenzie Milton, stood nearby with a University of Central Florida cap on. Milton changed course a few weeks ago by de-committing from UH to put his future in the hands of new UCF head coach Scott Frost, formerly the offensive coordinator at Oregon.

“Everyone’s different, that’s what I think,” Malepeai said. “What happened for me, happened for me. For someone else, it’s going to be different. Look at this guy, he was committed to UH.”

Milton had other offers, including some from the military academies and their spread-option style offenses. In the end, coming up through an Oregon-influenced offense at Mililani proved to be a perfect match. It could happen again at UCF.

“You’ve got to do what’s best for your situation. You go through that your whole life, just trying to please your family. When you come to 17, 18 years old, you’ve got to make that decision for yourself. I think that’s what me and Vae did,” Milton said.

Malepeai wavered just a tiny bit when the question of family came up. They are heavily influential, he said, even though he made this a choice on his own terms.

“This is the first grown-up decision I’ve kind of made. Having the support from your family is the best thing ever in this process. Knowing that they’ll support you no matter what makes everything easier,” he said.

They won’t be the only island student-athletes departing for the continent in a few months. In all, 13 players signed with mainland FBS programs at the PIAA event. The state’s most highly recruited player, Kaiser offensive lineman Michael Eletise, wore his Arizona hat with a big smile. Until he departs, Eletise plans on training every day, as usual, and hitting the dusty field at Kaimuki when Brian Derby Offensive Linemen Camp resumes.

“We’ve got to hone our skills. Get thrown into the fire,” he said. “Coach Derby is one of the best offensive line coaches out there. I’m not going to lie. He’s a great guy. We might not like him on the field because he’s such a hard coach, but we know deep down he cares about us.”

As expected, Navy coach Kenny Niumatalolo scored nicely with two All-State selections: ‘Iolani wide receiver Keoni-Kordell Makekau and Kamehameha defensive tackle Alema Kapoi.

Sean Toleafoa Auwae, Kapolei’s behemoth offensive lineman, signed with Vanderbilt.

The event drew three UH football signees: All-State wide receiver Kalakaua Timoteo, who turned down Washington State; offensive lineman Joshua Hauanio of ‘Iolani and two-way lineman Netane Muti of Leilehua.

Punahou All-State kicker Jet Toner and Saint Louis All-State offensive lineman Nate Herbig signed with Stanford. Saint Louis saw three seniors finalize their decisions with Pac-12 schools: wide receiver Drew Kobayashi (Cal), linebacker Jordan Loveni Iosefa (USC) and Herbig.

“I actually felt better after the (recent) visit,” said Kobayashi, who committed to the Golden Bears last summer. “A lot of their receivers are leaving for the draft or graduating.”

Herbig had a tough choice to make once offers started rolling in last summer.

“I’m just excited. It’s going to be fun,” the Kauai native said.

Iosefa stuck to his commitment after USC offered a scholarship last summer.

“Other schools talked to me, but I held strong and kept my commitment,” Iosefa said. “My visit, that was an amazing time meeting all their players.”

Long after most of the crowd had departed, Iosefa and Malepeai leaned in to listen to their new head coach, Helton, congratulate them after the speaker was turned on a phone.

Another all-state linebacker, Tanoa Foster of Kamehameha, signed with Fresno State. He turned down UH, which was the first school to make an offer.

The majority of football signees made pacts with small colleges or junior colleges. Among them were many potential FBS players, including Fatu Sua-Godinet of Kamehameha, who signed with Delaware State. He had been sidelined by injury for much of the football season.

Ace Faumui, Radford’s two-way standout, was one of six to sign with Arizona Western. That group includes Saint Louis defensive lineman Tanielu Evaimalo.

The signees at PIAA also included more than two dozen women’s soccer players, including UH recruit Tia Furuta.

Sixteen of the soccer signees hail from Hawaii Surf Soccer Club, a team that has been unbeaten in local age-group competition for 12 seasons. The 16: Furuta, Callia Fabro, Nahenahe Damas, Megan Inouye-Ng, Kyllie Ann Yasutake, Breanne Ihara, Eden Kawabe, Tamera Mikamura, Brittny Maze, Sara Olanda, Kailana Ka‘eo, Kasey Isobe, Alisha Kahele-Manners, Alliya Fesili, Kailana Kaeo and Taiana Tolleson.