UCLA Dips into Hawaii to Land Top OC Sean Toleafoa Auwae
Written by Ryan Wright
The recruiting period from offer to verbal commitment was short and sweet for Hawaii standout center “Sean” Toleafoa Auwae and UCLA. The Bruins offered the Kapolei High School star on Aug. 5 landing him on Friday, August 14.
Auwae gained recruiting attention playing for the Hurricanes in 2014 shooting up the rankings as one of the top rated centers in the nation. With roughly 16 schools offering, on Tuesday Sean named his Top 6 listing Louisville, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Utah, Vanderbilt, and UCLA in no order. Auwae has listed unofficial visits to USC and Louisville and reportedly attended a Texas Tech satellite camp to get an opportunity to work closer with the Red Raiders staff. Some of the other schools to offer include Hawaii, BYU, Nevada, San Diego State, Tulsa, UNLV, Washington, Washington State, Idaho State, and Arizona State.
UCLA had an “in” with Auwae having Fred Ulu-Perry (St. Louis High School 2015) on the roster. Kapolei has turned out several offensive linemen to the D-I level in recent years seeing OT Pesi Savea head to San Diego State and OG Viliamu Auwae head to Utah State as part of the 2015 recruiting class and OG Micah Kapoi to Wisconsin in 2014.
The Bruins are piece mailing together another Top 15 recruiting class filling in holes along the way. Head coach Jim Mora has picked up top punter Bailey Raborn and kicker JJ Molson while landing 4-star talents like DE Wole Betiku, LB Breland Brandt, LB Lokeni Toailoa, WR Dymond Lee, and LB Krys Barnes.
UCLA 2016 Verbal Commitment List
WR Dymond Lee, 6’2”, 175 lbs, Chaminade HS, West Hills, CA
WR Darian Owens, 6’0”, 192 lbs, Clovis West HS, Fresno, CA
TE Jordan Wilson, 6’5”, 215 lbs, Montgomery Bell, Nashville, TN
QB Matt Lynch, 6’5”, 182 lbs, Legacy HS, Broomfield, CO
RB Demetric Felton, 5’10”, 170 lbs, Great Oak HS, Temecula, CA
FB Jalen Starks, 6’1”, 240 lbs, Crespi HS, Encino, CA
OC Sean Toleafoa Auwae, 6’4”, 295 lbs, Kapolei HS, Kapolei, HI
LS Johnny Den Bleyker, 6’0”, 200 lbs, Moreau Catholic HS, Hayward, CA
PK JJ Molson, 6’1”, 190 lbs, John Abbott College, Montreal, Canada
P Bailey Raborn, 6’0”, 195 lbs, St. Thomas More, Lafayette, LA
DE Marcus Moore, 6’3”, 244 lbs, Crespi HS, Encino, CA
DE Wole Betiku, 6’4”, 250 lbs, Junipero Serra HS, Gardena, CA
DE Osa Odighizuwa, 6’2”, 250 lbs, David Douglas HS, Portland, OR
LB Krys Barnes, 6’2”, 220 lbs, Liberty HS, Bakersfield, CA
LB Breland Brandt, 6’4”, 220 lbs, Windward HS, Los Angeles, CA
LB Lokeni Toailoa, 6’0”, 213 lbs, Wilmer Carter HS, Rialto, CA
Photo credit: oregonlive.com; No. 76 Sean Toleafoa Auwae