Fehoko staying local for 1st visit

A number of players we thought were taking official visits this past weekend ended up staying home for Thanksgiving weekend. Yet another player who canceled a visit was Honolulu (Hawaii) Farrington defensive end Sam Fehoko.

Fehoko, 6-1, 220 pounds is one of the premier players on the Islands and is coming off a big season where he totaled 23 quarterback sacks. The rush end was expected to visit Arizona this past weekend but decided he wanted his first visit to be closer to home.

"I've decided to take an official visit to Hawaii this weekend (Dec. 1)," Fehoko said. "I really like Coach Reinebold (DL coach) a lot and Hawaii has been recruiting me so hard for such a long time, I decided I wanted my first official visit to be there over anywhere else.

"I go to all the home games Hawaii plays and everyone there really makes me feel like part of the team. I wasn't sure if Hawaii was a team I wanted to play for earlier in the year but after seeing how well they're doing now, I know they have a bright future and that was important to me.

"Playing for a winning program is really high on my list and Hawaii is now ranked and just knocked off Purdue. They have some good young talent and I think they'll be winning for awhile now. So I'm looking forward to the visit and I'm really high on Hawaii, as much as any other school.

"I'm playing in a local all star game the following weekend and then my next trip will be to San Diego State (Dec. 8). My brother loves it there and although they haven't won much this year, I like the coaches and I think they have the ability to turn things around.

"I don't have any other trips set but I know I'm going to set a visit with Oklahoma for sometime in January. I talk with Coach Wilson all the time and we've discussed different dates for a visit. As for my last two visits, I'm just going to keep them open. I'm playing in an All-American game in Louisiana January 5 and I'm hoping that could result in a few more offers for me. My brother played in the game last year and schools like LSU and a few others offered him after the game so I want to keep some trip dates open in case the same thing happens for me.

"Right now, I really don't have a leader, I'm open to everyone. I'm just going to take my time with this process, take as many trips as I can and then when I feel I'm ready to make my decision, I'll go ahead and commit at that time."