HAWAII GROWN: Hawaii athletes eye XFL to continue career

The XFL is set to re-launch in 2020 and announced the first pool of players eligible for next week’s XFL player draft today.

Seven players with Hawaii ties were listed. The draft takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 15, and Wednesday, Oct. 16

Former Utah teammates Jordan Agasiva and Kavika Luafatasaga along with defensive tackles Scott Pagano of Oregon and Handsome Tanielu of BYU could hear their names called. Also, former University of Hawaii long snapper Noah Borden and offensive lineman Dejon Allen are in the pool of players selected.

UPDATE: Also in the pool is 2015 Baldwin alum Josiah Tonu, an offensive lineman from Southern Oregon.

Agasiva, a 2015 Mililani alumnus, spent two years at Pima Community College in Arizona before signing with Utah for his final two years of eligibility. Agasiva, who chose the Utes over offers from schools including Auburn and Oklahoma, started 24 games in two years for Utah and was named to the All-Pac-12 first team as a senior.

He went undrafted before signing a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Luafatasaga, a Farrington alumnus, began his college career at Arizona Western before making 21 starts in two seasons at linebacker for the Utes in 2016 and ’17.

Pagano, a highly-rated recruit out of Moanalua who originally signed and played at Clemson, eventually transferred to Oregon for his senior season in 2017 and played in eight games making one start.

Tanielu, a Waianae alumnus, went to Snow College before ending up with the Cougars. At the time he transferred to BYU in 2016, he chose the Cougars out of an offer sheet that included Louisville, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Penn State and Baylor.

Borden, a Kamehameha alumnus, served a two-year church mission before his four-year UH career ended in 2018.

Allen, a first-team, All-Mountain West selection as a senior at UH in 2017, was most recently with Green Bay after originally signing as a free agent with the Chicago Bears.

The XFL will announce more eligible players in the days leading up to the draft. Eight teams will fill out a 71-man roster by selecting players from a set of positional groupings. One quarterback will be assigned to each team prior to a five-phased draft.