Well, that was quick.
Or was it?
Hours after Colorado and UCF became the latest FBS programs to offer Isaac Slade-Matautia football scholarships, the hometown team stepped up.
The University of Hawaii is now the eighth school to make an offer to the Saint Louis linebacker. New UH assistant coach Craig Stutzmann, a former standout at Saint Louis, made the offer this afternoon.
“He talked to Isaac privately,” said Julia Pulu, Slade-Matautia’s mother.
It’s the fulfillment of one of the rangy, athletic junior’s childhood dreams.
“I think he’s happy about it,” Pulu said. “UH was always one of his schools. We’d pass UH campus and he’d always say he was going to UH one day.”
Keep in mind that he started dreaming a long time ago.
“This is during his flag football days when he was 4, 5 years old,” she recalled.
The Warriors began their quest to land the speedy linebacker recently.
“They started sending mail to the school maybe three weeks ago. We really hadn’t been in contact with any of the coaches personally,” Pulu said. “I think maybe the Vegas trip had a lot to do with that.”
At the Pylon 7v7 in Las Vegas over the weekend, an 808 Hawaii team comprised of players like Slade-Matautia and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa reached the semifinal round in a field of 169 teams.
The offer list now looks like this as of Mar. 9, 2016 — unless more arrive before midnight:
Arizona
Arizona State
Central Florida
Colorado
Hawaii
Nebraska
Washington
Washington State
Why is UH so late to the party? come on Rolo.