The No. 1 in Offensive Guard in Hawaii Michael Eletise was a humongous fish in a big ocean Coach Rich Rod and staff reeled him in!
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This athlete is so down to earth, such an infectious smile and attitude and a great football player as well. I was up writing an article on another great commit running back Tyliek Raynor, while finishing up interviewing even another exciting commit DeVaughn Cooper, when I read around 11:30pm PST that Michael Eletise had selected Arizona as his school. I about jumped off the couch!
It is interesting to note that all three players agree; the reason they chose Arizona is predominantly because the coaches, how they talk to players, and how it feels like family when they are all together.
I had written about Michael Eletise a couple of weeks ago and was hugely impressed. The anticipation and excitement I felt at the possibility that he could choose to play for Arizona was immense.
I can only imagine what the coaches must have felt. This is such a great pick up for the Arizona Football program, and hopefully shuts up all those Rich Rodriguez critics for a while anyway. And it happened last night, he put on his Arizona “A” hat and announced he was going to the U of A!
According to Billy Hull of
, the announcement came last night, “Eletise announced the decision on the 6 p.m. KHON2 newscast and spoke before Kaiser’s practice Monday afternoon as the team put on pads for the first time in advance of its Aug. 7 opener at Kapolei.”
Eletise is the No. 1 recruit in the state of Hawaii and was featured on the news to announce his decision. Micheal is the No. 120 overall and No. 7 guard in the Nation, yes, you read that right.
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The Hawaiian strong man had 42 schools wooing him including a number of Pac-12 schools and Alabama. Arizona had made his top five on the list, but it sounded to me that Arizona State was top on his list since he resonated spiritually with the Sun Devils head football coach. That wasn’t the case, it seems he was almost sold on being a Husky and taking his talents to Seattle, Washington.
Amy Campbell of Scout Now interviewed two scouts on Michael Eletise. Both Gregg Biggins and Kim Grinolds give her their thoughts on what went down in the last days leading up to Eletise’s announcement.
Apparently it was U-Dub or The University of Washington all the way up until the last-minute when two Arizona coaches including Assistant Coach Charlie Ragle made phone calls to Eletise. Those calls must have been some pretty wonderful phone calls to persuade this young phenom towards playing in the desert.
BREAKING: Arizona has landed the No.1 Guard on the west coast & top player in Hawaii @MichaelEletise! #BearDown http://t.co/xlhY30Bue6
— 247Sports Recruiting (@247recruiting) July 28, 2015
How big of a surprise was OG @MichaelEletise committing to #Arizona & who will #Washington look to now? #ScoutNow http://t.co/qVxga4Xwao
— 247Sports Recruiting (@247recruiting) July 28, 2015
Three weeks ago, sporting his University of Arizona gear, Eletise showed us his strength:
Michaels sister Keilani was watching his announcement on Television and her tweet after watching it was priceless.
Keilani attends Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Arizona on the mainland so she can come to his games in Tucson and he can visit her in Phoenix. This could have been a major reason for the family in Michael’s decision in selecting Arizona.
Michael’s great performance in “The Opening” football showcase had sports writers and at least 42 coaches across the country salivating. It was during that showcase that Eletise announced his top five schools which were Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Washington, listed in alphabetical order.
Congrats to #TheOpening Finals 2015 Alum and a great kid, Michael Eletise on his commitment to #Arizona. #BearDown pic.twitter.com/ZaaTxPpR0o
— Todd Huber (@ToddHuberSS) July 28, 2015
Here are some more Eletise photo’s care of @Wildcat_Country:
4 Star - Michael Eletise@MichaelEletise
— AZ Wildcat Country (@Wildcat_Country) July 28, 2015
No.1 ranked OG in the West#Arizona Bound! #BearDown pic.twitter.com/JwE1TwcYWp
Matt Dudek, Arizona’s Director of On-Campus Recruiting and Player Personnel, is celebrating his eighth commitment in two weeks tweeting out his all too familiar saying, “on to the next one.” This time his message included a special dancer for our Hawaiian commit:
Let’s end on that note, shall we? Cannot top a beautiful Hawaiian dancing the hula in celebration or can we?
But wait! There’s more!
Shortly after Eletise committed, Arizona received another commitment from Markell Utsey, a 6’4 290 pound defensive tackle out of Parkview High School Varsity Football in Little Rock, Arkansas.
https://twitter.com/_50Problems/status/626068384904404992
Beardown Michael and Markell!
Next: Tyliek Raynor is going to bust through offensive lines and bring home touchdowns for Arizona