Vakameilalo favors Oregon State

Kalani Vakameilalo is short on words but getting long on college interest. He holds four scholarship offers as things stand now and other schools are starting to buzz around his recruitment.

Still, Vakameilalo is relatively new to football. He's even newer to this whole recruitment thing. And interviews? Those are a totally foreign art to the Kapolei, (Hawaii) High School defensive tackle. He's adjusting, though. He already has some of the clichés down.

"I'm going to wait until after the season for a decision," Vakameilalo said on Tuesday.

For now, it looks as though the decision he speaks of will be between Kansas, Oregon State, Washington State and Pittsburgh. Vakameilalo comes right out and says Oregon State currently leads the pack but insists he does not intend to commit until he gets a chance to take look around.

"I'm just focused on school right now," Vakameilalo said. "I'll start doing that in the middle of the season. Oregon State will be one visit. I think a lot of the colleges that have offered will be visits."

Despite the four offers, Vakameilalo is a bit of an under-the-radar commodity. A player of Tongan decent, he's relatively new to football and transferred to Kapolei just last season. When he's not in school or in practice, he helps his family's business by building rock walls. Your normal high school football star Vakameilalo is not.

That said, he's certainly starting to be treated like one by college coaches, even if he's yet to land an offer from the in-state program,.

'I don't know why Hawaii hasn't offered, but other coaches message me a lot," he said. "I talk to Coach Joe [Seumalo] at Oregon State the most, though.

"He's a cool guy. He just tells me how much they want me at Oregon State and stuff."

Vakameilalo lines up at both defensive tackle and defensive end for Kapolei and is a versatile athlete for his massive, 300-pound frame. He says he is yet to set up dates for official visits but plans to do so during the first few weeks of his senior season.

The area surrounding a school will be a major factor in Vakameilalo's decision, even if what he is looking for is rare on the mainland.

"I want to look at the area," Vakameilalo said. "I want something similar to Hawaii."