Auwae adds two offers

Toleafoa Auwae made a trip across the Pacific Ocean last week to see both Los Angeles schools and returned home with a couple new scholarship offers on his sheet.

UCLA and USC hosted the Kapolei (Hawaii) offensive lineman on campus, but it was Texas Tech and Washington State that officially joined the chase by extending offers Sunday night.

"With Texas Tech, I know it's a really strong school," Auwae said. "I really like coach (Lee) Hays. He's always in contact with me and actually has visited my school twice. I'm in constant contact with them so I know them very well. With Wazzu, it's coach Joe Salave'a who's come out to see me. I'm likely going to take official visits to those two schools."

BYU is another serious contender for the 6-foot-3. 296-pound offensive guard. Cougars assistant Garett Tujague is the lead recruiter and Auwae believes they could be next to offer.

The Bruins and Trojans are also candidates.

Auwae visited USC alongside a couple other island-based prospects and got a great feel for what the Trojans are building.

"It was nice to go out there," Auwae said. "I liked everything about it. The practice was nice and the coaching was super friendly. Coach (Steve) Sarkisian came up to us and took us to see the main locker room. It was very nice. I also got to speak with coach (Johnny) Nansen and coach (Bob) Connelly, and they told me they'll be in contact."

Before the trip, Auwae said UCLA would be the dream offer and although he didn't land that while on campus, the stop was very productive.

"I really like the school up there," Auwae said. "Coach (Adrian) Klemm and coach (Kennedy) Polamalu are really friendly. I just love the campus and the style of offense is very similar to what we run at my high school, which is something I told them about. If I went there, it would be something I'm used to. Coach Klemm told me he'd be in contact with me every week."

Auwae said he has also been hearing from Utah and Utah State. Due to the distance from the mainland, the fast-rising prospect added he'd likely visit other schools this fall in an official capacity.