Feature on Corey Nielsen

About putting a UH “H” logo decal on the back of his helmet, right above another decal of the Hawaiian Island chain, Corey Nielsen said:
“I wanna represent.” (HA)

HA Note: “Nielsen made a verbal commitment in July and already considers himself a Warrior. He played this entire season with a Hawai’i “H” logo decal on the back of his helmet, right above another decal of the Hawaiian Islands chain.”

HA Note: “Nielsen easily qualifies as the latter, since his mother — the former Cheryl Ching — is a Punahou graduate and his grandma and two aunts still live here. One of his cousins, Punahou alum Kelsie Look, plays for the Rainbow Wahine soccer team.”

About how he thought that Nielsen was from Hawaii when he met him, Billy Ray Stutzmann said:
“When I first met him, I thought he was local. He’s always representing Hawai’i.” (HA)

About being invited to play with the Hawaii stars in the All-Star game, Nielsen (who arrived in time for the Cincinnati game) said:
“I was excited. I thought it would be a great opportunity to show the people of Hawai’i what I’ve got. It’s one thing to see highlights on YouTube, but it’s another to show what I can do in person.” (HA)

Praising Nielsen’s play in practice, Hawaii All-Stars coach Wendell Say said:
“He’s legit. He’s a good quarterback, real confident.” (HA)

About practicing with Nielsen, Stutzmann said:
“He looks solid, I’m glad he’s on our team. He makes the right reads, and he gets the ball there. On the short routes, he gets the ball there in a hurry. And he’s not afraid to put touch on the deep passes.” (HA)

HA Note: “Nielsen, who carries a 4.0 GPA and ranks No. 1 in his senior class of 444, said he’s tried surfing only once and admits his pidgin English could use some work.”

About his pidgin English, Nielsen said:
“I’m trying to understand (teammates’ pidgin) a little bit. But they’ve all been welcoming me and showing me around …It’s been so much fun.” (HA)

S Aaron Brown and DT Zack Masch commit to the Warriors!

About turning down offers from Arizona State and Oregon, partially due to the fan support at the Cincinnati game, Aaron Brown said:
“I love the Hawai’i fans. I was at the game (against Cincinnati) Saturday night, and it was a great atmosphere. I liked the coaches and the players. I thought it was a good fit for me.” (HA)

HA Note: “Brown is 6 feet 1 1/2 and 215 pounds. He is capable of running 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, and bench-pressing 225 pounds 24 times. He has a 36-inch vertical jump.”

About how Rich Miano took the recruits to Sandy’s, Brown said:
“That was fun.” (HA)

HA Note: “UH wideout Mike Tinoco, a Saddleback graduate, was Brown’s host the past weekend.”

About placing third in the Washington state meet as a 189-pound wrestler, Brown said:
“Wrestling helped me. It was good conditioning.” (HA)

HA Note: “As a freshman at Saddleback, he amassed a team-high 65 tackles, including seven tackles for losses. As a sophomore this season, he tied for the team high with 59 tackles, of which 41 were solo stops. He also made three interceptions (18.5 yards per return), broke up six passes, made two quarterback hurries, forced two fumbles and had an 81-yard fumble return. Brown is projected to compete at strong safety at UH.”

About how the fans at the Cincinnati game helped convince him to go to UH, Zach Masch said:
“Just to see Hawai’i was great. Going to the (UH-Cincinnati) game was what clicked in. It made me think, ‘I want to go there.’ It was loud. The stadium was great.” (HA)

About the atmosphere around the team, Masch said that:
“everything there was like a family. I liked that. That’s what it takes to win a championship.” (HA)

About how UH coaches discovered him while watching videotapes of prospects at New Mexico Military Institute (Warrior recruit Nathan Mageo) in their game with Saddleback, Masch said:
“That’s how they got the word out. They asked the New Mexico Military coach about me.” (HA)

Masch said that after he completed his recruiting visit:
“I told coach (Greg) McMackin I was committing. I wanted to be a Warrior.” (HA)