On the recruiting trail

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mustangs' Keenaaina has earned several significant offers.
Getting recruited for Aidan Ikaika Keanaaina had been happening at his pace and it was quite enjoyable.
“It’s going well right now,” the Mullen junior defensive lineman said in December. “It’s a dead period, of course, and quiet, and there have been some coaches at school.”
However, we are now in January, the holidays are over, the second year of the new early signing period last month all but secured the 2019 Class, and Keanaaina (pronounced Kay-aw-nah-EYE-nah) and others in the elite of the current junior group now brace for their first official onslaught.  
The race is on and it’s a highly competitive one.
“It will really kick up and they’ll start focusing on the 2020s,” Keanaaina said. “I’ll be slammed and will be prepared for that.”
The new signing period, Mustangs head coach Vincent White said, “has sped up the process. Tremendously. Now, (college recruiters) are done with the ’19 class. When they go out (this month), they’ll come out with their 2020 kids. Now, they’re done with the ‘19 class.
“And now, if they lose a kid who’s leaving or they didn’t get everybody or other than that, they’re concentrating on the 2020 class.”
The offers will be piling up even more  for the 2020s, although Keanaaina is doing fine in that department, thank you. Offers? The 6-foot-3, 295-pounder has nearly two dozen. In no particular order, Oregon, Colorado, Nebraska, BYU, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Penn State, Cal-Berkeley, Colorado State, Ohio State, Virginia, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Utah, UCLA, Air Force, Florida, Yale and Iowa are among those seriously interested in his commitment.
Obviously, he is enjoying the process and has turned toward a decision.
“I want to commit before the (2019) season, whether it’s the spring or summer,” Keanaaina said. “I want to take a couple of official visits and want to be committed so I can go out and play.”
No, he said, he doesn’t have his choice down to a select few as “I’m getting down to certain teams, seeing things I like and seeing some other things ... I’m starting to figure out things I didn’t know before and it’s helping to make my decision.”
Keanaaina said he has a 4.1 grade-point average, so it won’t be an issue. And though he’s also undecided on a major, he said “that’s the hardest thing. I’m looking at a broad range.”
Recognized in recruiting circles such as ESPN, Rivals and 247, Keanaaina is a 4-star recruit who can climb to 5-star. He also has named to the 2020 Polynesian Bowl to be played in Aloha Stadium in Oahu in about a year.
For now, he’s concentrating on his decision and all that comes with it, including tense moments. But he foresees the end of it.
“It is a stress,” he said of the recruiting trail, “but most of the time I feel like it’s fun and a lot of people don’t get this experience.
“Yes, at times it’s stressful, but I have to think of it as a benefit to have this amazing opportunity. It’s a gift to be able to have this amazing problem to decide on and come to the one place I want.”
 
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