Timoteo’s pledge to UH as solid as they come

Sometimes you make a phone call asking a simple question and you end up with a wealth of information that you weren’t expecting.

It happened on Wednesday. The call was to Jocelyn Timoteo, the mother of Mililani star wide receiver and Hawaii commit Kalakaua Timoteo. Hawaii Prep World was wondering if Timoteo’s commitment to play for the Rainbow Warriors was still solid.

If anyone is wondering, the answer is yes. And Jocelyn Timoteo relayed a story about her son that is well worth telling.

Kalakaua Timoteo III was named after the grandfather who raised him and his father before that. There is a slight difference in the spelling of the Mililani receiver’s first name compared to the two before him. Their names were spelled Talataua Timoteo.

“We are Samoan, but we wanted to honor Hawaii and the people of Hawaii,” Jocelyn Timoteo said about using the ‘K’ instead of the ‘T.’

Kalakaua’s Timoteo’s biological dad did not have anything to do with raising him, and went to prison, where he remains, the mom said.

She wants that fact — along with the fact that the Timoteos live in low-income housing — to be known. She says these are some of the reasons that drive Kalakaua on the football field.

Timoteo, by the way, will be playing in the Junior Prep Sports Paradise Football Classic — a high school showcase that includes two Hawaii teams and one each from California and American Samoa — at Aloha Stadium tonight and Saturday.

Timoteo’s grandfather, who passed away at the young age of 52 a few years back and who Kalakaua called “dad” has been the biggest inspiration, Joceyln said.

“It has been one of his dreams to play for UH and it was his grandfather’s dream for him to play at UH,” the mom said. “He is coming full circle. His grandfather was a diehard UH fan and he wanted him to go to UH.”

The grandfather was a running back for Nanakuli in the mid-1970s and went on to play at a small college in California.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of him,” Jocelyn said about her son. “We have never lived in a real house. He’s so motivated, and he’s tough, but his grandfather, that’s his soft spot. He raised him as his own son.”

Jocelyn Timoteo was thrilled when new Rainbow Warriors head coach Nick Rolovich knocked on the door soon after he was hired. Timoteo committed to UH when Norm Chow was still the head coach.

“He (Rolovich) looked me in the eyes and told me what he had in mind for Kalakaua,” she said. “He’s had other offers, but nothing like this. His visit spoke volumes.”

UNLV and Washington State also offered Timoteo a scholarship, and Colorado and USC have shown interest.

“USC said they wanted him to switch to tight end and he doesn’t want to do that,” the mom said.

As a senior, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Timoteo caught 70 passes for 1,345 yards and 22 touchdowns in 12 games for the Trojans, who went as far as the state semifinals.

At UH, Timoteo, a Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State first-team selection the past two seasons, will reunite with Mililani quarterback McKenzie Milton, whose commitment to UH appears to be solid and who also met with Rolovich last month. Milton, who was injured for a good part of 2015, was the 2014 Hawaii player of the year.

“They have a great connection and have been playing with each other since they were 12,” Jocelyn Timoteo said.