With the state champions crowned, high school football turns to its version of free agency. It has gone on forever, but when Rich Miano took over at Kaiser two years ago, the term "recruiting" came out of the shadows like it hadn’t since the issue led to the ILH split of private and public schools in 1970.

In Miano’s first season, he talked openly about being in a recruiting war with the Lee brothers over at Kalani. Whether it was a slip of the tongue by a man who was fresh off 13 years in the college game or not, after this year’s Division I state semifinal game between Punahou and Farrington, the issue came out into the open.

"Nobody likes to bring up the ‘R’ word," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "But three (Oahu) schools that won league championships recruited the best. The public needs to know the truth. That’s the reality. They’re very well coached, but they also recruit the best."

Those champions include Mililani (OIA Red), Kaiser (OIA White/state Division II) and Punahou (ILH/state Division I), which as a private school has no district and can pull students from all over. But, with geographic exceptions, so can the public schools. The Trojans made it to the state final against Punahou with eight transfers, and Kaiser won the Division II crown with more than 15 of them.

Okimoto said he omitted ILH Division II champion ‘Iolani because he believes that coach Wendell Look does not actively recruit.

All three coaches that Okimoto did mention denied recruiting, saying that they go to the first practice of the season and coach up the kids who show up, no matter where they came from. Not to mention that it is against the rules in both leagues, as well as the state.

"Let’s make this perfectly clear," Miano said. "Every school has transfers. Every school has (geographic exceptions), and all of our GEs and transfers meet OIA and HHSAA rules. In GE, there are no provisions for athletics; it is strictly academics. The reason why parents transfer into a school district vary widely. As a coach I have no control over this. However, my staff and I will coach and will work with these students."

Kaiser’s run to the title particularly irked other coaches and had social media all atwitter. Senior linebacker Tommy Fisher, who transferred from Maui, was a big part of the Cougars defense during the regular season but sat out the state tournament when questions arose regarding his eligibility. Or he could have been injured. Miano declined to comment on his situation because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

HHSAA executive director Chris Chun said that he had one complaint on his desk, but that he considered it informal and was not going to investigate it unless someone brought him something other than, "Hey, you should check out this team."

Mililani’s Rod York says he has heard as many seedy recruiting stories as anyone and believes that to be dragged into the conversation is more than a little insulting.

"That is the furthest thing from the truth," York said. "For years, before I was born, parents have always taken their kids to where it is best for them, and it’s not just football. It’s unfortunate Randall has to feel like that. I’ll give him a hug someday. Anyone who feels that way about Mililani needs a hug."

Campbell reached the state semifinals a year after losing five players to other schools, two of them to Kaiser and one each to Mililani, Kapolei and Leilehua. Each one of them was an impact player for his new school.

Whenever Campbell coach Amosa Amosa loses a kid to another school, athletic director Samuel Delos Reyes asks him to find out why. He never gets any proof of anything shady going on; he just wants to learn what his program is not providing to the defectors and make sure they don’t leave on bad terms.

"I know it goes on," Amosa said. "But it is not something I want to do. It is unethical and not what I want our program to be about. All of these kids are good kids, I just wish them well and welcome the kids who want to be here. This is something we all need to talk about already."

Castle coach Nelson Maeda said: "Recruiting in the public schools is illegal but happens more times than not. It’s about the coaches’, ADs’ and administrators’ integrity. There is much movement of transferring players from season to season using bogus addresses. The ADs are aware of the situation and, to our knowledge, no action has been taken, as the rules seem to be in the bylaws for window dressing."

The talk will undoubtedly wind itself around to where it has always started: public vs. private, and ILH schools having the ability to give out an endowed scholarship or financial aid.

The family of Punahou coach Kale Ane, for instance, offers an endowed scholarship for "annual tuition for students of Samoan, Hawaiian or other Polynesian ancestry who participate in football, baseball or basketball, and are good citizens."

Ane explained in an email on Monday that "our family wanted to honor him (father Charlie) … with an endowment that provides opportunities for others to have the chance to attend Punahou." The endowment is limited to the sports of football, baseball and basketball because those were the sports Charlie played at Punahou and the family "wanted to pass this on to someone who shared those same interests, who could qualify academically."

The Division I state championship has featured an OIA school versus the ILH champion every season, but Punahou’s 28-22 win over Mililani was the ILH’s first since 2010 and narrowed the OIA’s edge to 8-7.

So is Farrington going to hit the recruiting trail hard this year in an effort to catch up?

"That’s a good question," Okimoto said. "Personally, I don’t do that and I am not going to do that. We still feel we can beat these teams and we don’t mind them doing what they do, as long as it is out there for everybody to know it."