The Washington recruitniks say he’s a lock to follow his father’s cleatsteps to Seattle. Some Oregon fans disagree.
And now, Manoa will be visited.
So what does Shane Brostek have to say?
Some, but nothing definitive, not right now. The Hawaii Prep offensive lineman said he really doesn’t know yet where he will choose to go to college and play football. And that he won’t until after his visit to the University of Hawaii this week.
Shane finds all the predictions, assumptions and reading of tea (or ti?) leaves humorous … especially considering he hasn’t made any statement regarding his 6-foot-3, 300-pound presence leaning toward Washington, Oregon, or an island-hop west to Oahu.
"I’m still open," Shane said in a phone interview from Waimea on the Big Island. "All options are open."
Bern Brostek, the ‘Iolani and Washington star who went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams, said he doesn’t have a clue, either. And he lives with the kid.
"I’ve been trying to get into his head and see what’s going on, too. But my son’s head is kind of swimming."
IT’S THE NATURE of recruiting, though, that self-anointed experts and plain-old wishful thinkers believe they know more than a high school senior’s father about what a kid they’ve never met is going to do.
And that’s the kind of thing that makes recruiting college football’s silly season. When I reported online that Shane said he is undecided, one commenter implied he was lying, and that the high school senior knew exactly what he was going to do.
Could be true; we’ve all met 17-year-olds who can be that manipulative. But I don’t get the vibe that this guy is delaying an announcement to milk a free flight and a couple of meals in Honolulu.
He said he will give UH sincere consideration. His reasons sound sincere.
"It’s home, and you get to play in front of family. And I like how they want to go back to the old UH. Run the ball. That’s cool."
Norm Chow is known for his offensive play-calling. But he dialed up a max blitz last week, he and three assistants to the Brostek hale.
"It was good fun. It was cool to talk to them," Shane said. "They seem like they really want Hawaii players to play for UH."
We’ve actually been here before. Whenever there’s a new Hawaii coaching staff, there is renewed vigor in local recruiting. Remember, June Jones convinced Vince Manuwai to join him in Manoa. And Greg McMackin scored some early wins at Kahuku with Alema Tachibana and Paipai Falemalu. They were all prospects who appeared to be mainland-bound, until the new UH coach came calling.
Unfortunately, adrenaline doesn’t last forever. After a few rejections in what seems like impossible competition with BCS conference schools, enthusiasm for the task of recruiting the state’s best can wane.
That’s not an excuse, just a statement on what has happened.
It’s a long shot that Shane Brostek turns down the Pac-12 schools and becomes the gem of Norm Chow’s first recruiting class. But the fact that the new coach made the effort to tender an offer and secured a visit makes him the Hope Diamond in the eyes of Warriors fans.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.
