It was a winter break of discontent.
Back at his family home in Tacoma, Wash., cornerback Dee Maggitt struggled on whether to return to the University of Hawaii for his senior football season.
Maggitt’s teammate and best friend — running back Willis Wilson — had drowned off Sandy Beach on Nov. 30, the morning of the Rainbow Warriors’ season finale.
"It was tough to come back (to Hawaii)," Maggitt said. "I used that break as a time off. I didn’t do anything involving football. I stayed at home with my family. My sister had a son at that time. I got real close to my family. I just re-evaluated whether I wanted to come back."
Maggitt and Wilson both attended Lakes High.
"He was like family to me," Maggitt said.
Maggitt remembered receiving a wake-up call from Wilson in 2009.
"He asked if I wanted to go to a combine," Maggitt recalled. "I said, ‘Sure,’ and I got out of bed and went to the combine."
Maggitt met a coach who had contacts at UH. A week later, Maggitt received a written scholarship offer from the Warriors.
"If (Wilson) didn’t wake me up, who knows where I would be?" Maggitt said. "It was my first offer, and I committed a couple of days after I got the letter."
Wilson went to the University of Washington as a walk-on; Maggitt went to paradise. Last year, Wilson pondered whether to transfer. This time, Wilson received the call from Maggitt.
Last summer, Wilson moved to Hawaii to join the Warriors as a walk-on. "I’m glad he came," Maggitt said. "He’s a big reason why I got to Hawaii."
This past holiday season, Maggitt thought about transferring to a college in the Northwest.
"It wasn’t a question of whether I would play football again," Maggitt said. "It was whether I could handle being away from family again."
Then Maggitt received texts and calls from teammates Ne’Quan Phillips, Marrell Jackson and Anthony Pierce. Maggitt realized he had a hanai family in Hawaii.
"Being away and not doing anything was good for me," Maggitt said. "I got to re-evaluate my heart for the game, my love for my teammates. If it weren’t for my teammates, and for Coach (Daronte’) Jones, it would be a different story. I was ready to go to back to Hawaii."
In the past, Maggitt has expanded his training to include tai chi and yoga. This spring, he turned up the heat, signing up for Bikram yoga classes.
"You’re basically in a 100-degree room doing yoga with weights," Maggitt said. "It’s only 5-pound weights, but it’s not easy. It’s intense. I thought I’d walk in there and it would be easy because I’m a football player. I was definitely hurting afterward. But I think it really helped my flexibility."
Maggitt is regarded as a No. 1 cornerback. During Saturday’s practice, defensive coordinator Kevin Clune scolded Maggitt for not running at top speed.
"I thought I was running hard, but he felt I wasn’t," Maggitt said. "I just took that as a challenge. He felt I could run harder, so I ran harder. That lit a fire in me."
Maggitt also defended better, knocking away three throws during passing and team drills.
"I thought he stepped up," Clune said. "He finished practice really well."
Maggitt said: "It’s my senior year. It went fast. I’m trying to finish this out the right way."
