Hawley pulls the trigger

It only took one visit for Anaheim (Calif.) Esperanza offensive lineman Joe Hawley to make his college choice. After planning to check out a few more schools, the talented lineman visited UNLV this past weekend and committed to the Rebels last night.

Hawley, 6-3, 270 pounds had a huge senior season and earned just about every honor conceivable for a lineman. He was named 1st team all-league, league lineman of the year, 1st team all-county and 1st team all-state for the second year in a row. We were always surprised that he didn't draw even more attention as UNLV was one of the few schools who went after him hard.

"That was a big reason I committed to them," Hawley said. "They recruited me hard from the start and really showed me how bad they want me. Coach Sanford and Coach Bernardi came in for a home visit last night and that's when I decided to commit to them.

"At first, my plan was to take a few more visits just to make sure UNLV was the right place for me but I knew I wasn't going to find anywhere I liked as much as UNLV. I tripped there last weekend and really liked it. I love the coaching staff there and I think the program is definitely going in the right direction.

"On top of that, the coaches want me to come in and compete for playing time next season as a true freshman and that's what I want to do as well. I don't think I could handle watching from the sidelines or redshirting. As hard as I've been working, I have to be on the field and that's my goal."

Hawley said he was being brought in to play center or guard and is hoping to weigh around 290 pounds by the time he arrives on campus.