Grading the classes: Hawaii

This week, OBNUG will be grading the recruiting classes for each WAC team. Our research may be spotty, but as you can see from the final result, there is no questioning our loyalty.


Hawaii

We wanted to go easy on the Warriors since they have such a disadvantage recruiting from the islands. But then we remembered what punks they were when we played last year, so all bets are off.

Losing June Jones certainly did not help the incoming recruiting class. And Jones' admission that he left because of a lack of commitment to football by the athletic department wasn't too great either. Still, 22 players chose to come to Hawaii, including eight from local high schools.

"I'm very proud and honored that we were able to keep some of the top athletes from Hawai`i to stay home," Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin said. "That was our mission and we were receptive from their coaches and families, who were very gracious and hospitable, to invite us into their homes and schools to give us a chance to convince their kids to play for the University of Hawai`i."

Apparently, more people want a piece of Northern Illinois than we thought.

The class includes two quarterbacks, junior college "stars" Greg Alexander and Brent Rausch, who will compete with Tyler Graunke for the starting spot this fall. Replacing Colt Brennan will be tough, but I'm pretty that's what they said about Timmy Chang, too. Heh, Timmy Chang. (Giggling quietly to ourselves.)

The more difficult task will be replacing the four starting wide receivers who either graduated or turned pro. There can't be that many kids out there who act inappropriately after every catch, think more highly of themselves than they ought, and have dreadlocks. Good luck with that.

Scout.com rank: 93
Rivals.com rank: 84
OBNUG grade: F

Warriors sign 22 student athletes [University of Hawaii]