HONOLULU – Dylan Raiola, the top-ranked quarterback and Rivals' No. 2 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, is the headliner this week in Hawaii at the Polynesian Bowl -- the last of the three major postseason all-star football games for high school seniors.
And Raiola, who eventually signed with Nebraska last month after earlier commitments to Ohio State and Georgia, has perhaps the most unique connection to the event of anyone on the roster this year.
The five-star standout shared Sunday upon checking in that his parents got married at Kamehameha School -- the scenic hilltop school in Honolulu where the players will practice this week and play the Polynesian Bowl on Friday.
"I think all the stars aligned, really," he said. "My parents were married on Kamehameha, where the game is going to be played. This is their 20-year anniversary. And I think it's just a good opportunity to come back home where I'm from and play a game in front of all my family and friends. When I grew up here I didn't really play football, so for me to have the opportunity to come back and perform and play in front of my home state, I think it means a lot."
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Raiola moved away from Hawaii when he was 10 or 11 years old, he said, and eventually made a name for himself at Chandler High School in Arizona before finishing up at Buford HS in Georgia, where he passed for 2,666 yards, 34 touchdowns and one interception as a senior this season.
While his football accolades started once he left the island, Raiola is nonetheless an extension of the ever-growing lineage of elite quarterback prospects to come from Hawaii. Finishing his high school football career back here seems fitting in that regard.
"Hawaii is a small part of the United States, but there's a lot of talent, a lot of kids that just want to get off the island and go do something great in the mainland. And I think football provides a great opportunity for kids like me, kids that are Polynesian playing this game," he said. "Polynesian kids are just great fighters. They're going to compete, they're going to do what they're supposed to do, do the right thing. I think that's why a lot more kids are coming out of this state and the Polynesian culture."
Raiola committed to Ohio State in May of 2022 before backing off that pledge that December. He then committed to Georgia in May of 2023, but he had one more twist left his high-profile recruitment, flipping from the Bulldogs to Nebraska on Dec. 18 before signing two days later with the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska was always in the picture, as the quarterback's father Dominic Raiola was a star offensive lineman for the Huskers from 1997-2000.
"I think it was pretty crazy, to be pretty honest with you, but I had great parents, great support system around me to help keep me level-headed through it all," Raiola said, reflecting back on the recruiting process.
"I think really the focus was really all on the high school football season, but when that time came to [wrap up] the recruiting process and all that type of stuff, I think it was just something on my heart that's been on my heart for a little bit of time now. I felt like I want to do something different and change the landscape of college moment."
For one more week, though, Raiola gets to be a high school quarterback again -- without any scrutiny or spotlight on his college choice.
The other quarterbacks competing in the Polynesian Bowl are four-star Tennessee signee Jake Merklinger (Calvary Day/Savannah, Georgia), four-star Utah signee Isaac Wilson (Corner Canyon HS/Draper, Utah), three-star Oklahoma State signee Maealiuaki Smith (Junipero Serra HS/San Mateo, California), Hawaii-bound Micah Alejado (Bishop Gorman HS/Las Vegas, Nevada) and Utah Tech-bound Ty McCutcheon (Punahou School/Honolulu). Five-star Alabama signee Julian Sayin was on the roster for the game but will now not be participating.
