Mililani QB Gabriel’s Army commitment draws attention

WEST POINT, N. Y. >> With the growing notice of Hawaii as a producer of quarterbacks, the commitment of Mililani High’s Dillon Gabriel to Army has received considerable coverage here.

Under NCAA rules, Army coaches are not permitted to comment on prospective recruits until they are signed to binding commitments in the National Letter of Intent periods.

The U.S. Military Academy’s policy is not to release the names of incoming freshman recruits until Reception Day in the summer when they arrive at the academy.

But Gabriel announced his commitment via Twitter in June and the Middletown (N.Y.) Times-Herald Record has run several items on Gabriel.

The paper noted Gabriel’s pursuit of Tua Tagovailoa’s Hawaii career passing record of 8,158 yards, as well as Gabriel being the successor to Central Florida star McKenzie Milton at Mililani.

Gabriel is the son of Garrett Gabriel, who quarterbacked the University of Hawaii to its first NCAA bowl appearance in 1989 and ended the so-called “BYU jinx” of a decade of defeats by the Cougars.

Current Army head coach Jeff Monken was a graduate assistant on that coaching staff.