The Hawaii football team went into overtime to receive a commitment from a junior college offensive lineman.
Reginald "RJ" Hollis said he will sign a letter of intent with the Warriors today, 19 days after the NCAA signing period started.
Hollis was a freshman starter for Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College in 2012. In January, the NCAA Clearinghouse acknowledged Hollis met the requirements as an academic qualifier out of high school, a certification that allows Hollis to transfer to a Division I school this year.
Hollis, who will join the Warriors in June, will have four years to play three seasons.
Hollis is 6-feet-3 and 290 pounds. He is capable of bench pressing more than 400 pounds. He projects to play offensive tackle or guard for the Warriors.
Hollis said he is turning down recruiting trips to Cincinnati and Illinois. He also has received strong interest from Illinois.
"I’m going to be a Warrior," said Hollis, whose mother accompanied him on a recruiting visit to Hawaii over the weekend.
"The coaches are nice and the team is nice," Hollis said. "I just like the environment. It’s a good environment. Everybody made me and my mom feel comfortable. It wasn’t just the team. It was the people at the hotel and the restaurants.
"They made it such a good experience."
Hollis said he wanted to evaluate the program before making a decision.
"I did research on Coach (Norm) Chow," Hollis said. "I know he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good coach. Coach (Chris) Naeole is a good coach, too. Nobody wants to rush into a decision. But after I thought about it, it was easy to pick Hawaii."
Hollis said UH assistant coach Tony Tuioti was the first to contact him.
Hollis was born in Alabama but spent most of his life in Arizona. He said this weekend was the first time he walked on a beach or saw an ocean in person.
"I saw a fire(-knife) dancer," he said. "Maybe I’ll try to learn that after football is over."
Hollis said he had his first taste of POG (passion-orange-guava juice).
"Coach (Phil) Rauscher gave it to me," Hollis recalled. "He said, ‘Try it,’ and I tried it. It was, I think they say, ‘ono.’ It was ono and all that. It was really good."
