Well before President-elect Donald Trump articulated a vision for his “wall” along the border, a succession of University of Hawaii football coaches had come to wish for a barrier of their own.

Theirs would circle the state, fencing in the high school football talent that has increasingly fled these islands in abundance.

Or, as head coach Nick Rolovich puts it, “When I was at Nevada, I was the best recruiter of Hawaii I ever was. There were so many (players) that wanted to get off the island. There was only one guy, out of everybody I talked to, who told me he wanted to stay (home).”

As the Feb. 1 National Letter of Intent day approaches as the first opportunity for high school recruits to sign binding commitments, Rolovich finds himself tasked with patching up the Rainbow Warriors’ porous backyard.

Rolovich had scant time to make much of an impact last year with the Nov. 30, 2015 announcement of his hiring and time spent building a staff.

But this year, with more of a running start and a breakthrough bowl-game victory to sell, we begin to get a better idea of whether he and his staff can start to staunch the long-running hemorrhage of talent from these shores.

It is something his predecessor in Manoa, Norm Chow, who successfully recruited the state for Brigham Young and UCLA prior to coming to UH, was unable to do.

And while some of the headliners of this year’s class — Alabama-bound quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Saint Louis teammate, Georgia Tech-bound offensive lineman Michael Minihan — are already spoken for, there is a considerable amount of talent that remains uncommitted.

Depending on final grades and test scores, as many as 20 local players could wind up with Division I scholarships.

So far, UH is off to an encouraging start with a commitment by Kahuku running back Kesi Ah-Hoy and is chasing others. But, then, so too are half the teams on the West Coast, it seems. Not to mention schools from more distant time zones, Virginia and Vanderbilt among them.

It is a rare Pac-12 or Mountain West school that hasn’t at least tried to get a foot in the door here. “Everybody is coming in here, everybody wants the next (Marcus) Mariota or Manti (Te’o),” Rolovich said.

Once upon a time it was just Brigham Young, Utah and a couple of Pac-12 schools UH had to battle. Increasingly, however, the Mountain West has joined the mob. Last season San Diego State, Nevada-Las Vegas, Nevada, Fresno State, Wyoming, Air Force and Utah State all had at least one player from Hawaii on their rosters. The Aztecs had two starters.

The level of competition from Nevada and Fresno State isn’t likely to wane when former ‘Bows, Timmy Chang (Nevada) and Tony Tuioti (Fresno State), both December hires, become regulars at local Gridiron Performance Academy sessions.

But it isn’t just about keeping home the four- and five-star prospects who have traditionally gone to the marquee schools anyway. History tells us that while the foundation for on-the-field success for UH begins on the homefront, it often involves players the Rainbow Warriors can develop as well as those who are instant starters.

“The other thing that makes it harder is the Division II and junior college programs that come in here to recruit,” Rolovich said. “That hurts our walk-on pool, too.”

These days, if you are UH, everybody is diving into your pool.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.