That light at the end of a freezing storm was Hawaii’s sunshine.
A week after enduring the worst of Texas’ winter weather, receiver Jalen Walthall of Manvel High signed a letter of intent with the University of Hawaii football team this past Monday. Walthall will enroll at UH this summer.
“It just felt like the right place,” Walthall said in a telephone interview with the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday, “and I knew they believed in me.”
Walthall said he is 6 feet 3, 175 pounds, and capable of running 40 yards in 4.46 seconds. This past season, Walthall sparkled in Manvel’s Air Raid-type offense, with 45 catches for 1,045 yards and 17 touchdowns. He averaged 23.2 yards per reception. UH’s run-and-gun offense has elements of the Air Raid.
Manvel, located 20 miles from Houston, has been a perennial power in 5-A football. Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and D’Eriq King of the University of Miami are Manvel alumni.
“It’s great to come from tradition,” Walthall said. “It also helps with recruiting. (College) coaches know when you come from a great program, you’re going to come in and give it your all. You’ll be respectful. You’re not going to talk back.”
Walthall’s first steps might have been a pass route. His passion for the sport began “from the time I could walk. My parents were both into sports. They were on it from day one.”
Through his freshman year, Walthall played running back, receiver, cornerback and safety. During Walthall’s sophomore season, the Manvel coaches asked him to focus on one position.
“I would say receiver came most natural to me,” Walthall said. “But after I stopped working on the other positions and put my focus into one, it became easy.”
Walthall said he runs routes after practices. If nobody else is around, he said, “I’d throw the ball to myself.”
His father, Tony, also blistered passes his way.
Walthall said he sleeps with a football.
When the pandemic escalated 11 months ago, Houston officials canceled on-campus visits from college coaches. Juniors usually are evaluated during the spring semester.
Walthall received offers from Wyoming and Tulane. But both schools rescinded after signing receivers off the transfer portal. Soon after the start of this month’s signing period for football prospects, the Rainbow Warriors contacted Walthall. He accepted the offer on Monday.
It was a bright development for Walthall, who weathered a snowstorm that pelted Texas last week. “The whole city lost power for three, four days,” Walthall said. “And some people lost their water and everything.”
Walthall said his home lost power. He said his family relocated to friends’ houses. “It was surprising,” Walthall said. “Everybody knows Texas doesn’t get any snow. … It was real.”
