Tag: Tausili Akana

3 days, 3 commitments: Oklahoma Sooners land four-star EDGE Adepoju Adebawore

The Sooners come on top as EDGE Adepoju Adebawore commits to Oklahoma Sunday.

If you’re reading this, we can assure you it’s not a dream. The commitments have come on consecutive days that it almost feels like deja vu. However, the fact of the matter is this, Oklahoma has landed another commitment.

We are now at three consecutive days with the Oklahoma Sooners receiving a commitment. If you’re counting at home it’s five commitments since the 4th of July. This one is another defender as four-star EDGE Adepoju Adebawore out of Kansas City, Missouri commits to the Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday evening.

Adebawore was firmly entrenched in a recruiting battle that had the Sooners competing with Northwestern and Missouri. Obviously, neither school supports the football pedigree in any capacity compared to Oklahoma but Adebawore’s brother plays at Northwestern and Missouri is the home state school.

Ultimately, the allure of playing for one of the best programs in the nation and being coached by an elite defensive staff  won out.

Adebawore’s pledge marks the first major commitment for first-year defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis. Chavis lands the first Top 100 commit of his tenure at Oklahoma. Chavis has energy and passion and it has resonated with edge defenders on the recruiting trail since taking over.

Adebawore also is another representation of the types of defensive ends the Sooners want in Crimson & Cream under Brent Venables. At 6-foot-4, with a 7-foot wingspan, he looks closer to the defensive ends you see in the SEC in terms of the physical makeup which has been a major emphasis since Venables and Co. took over.

Adebwore is surely not the only EDGE the Sooners hope to land in this class but his commitment marks a fantastic start. Four-star Tausili Akana is a major priority for the Sooners off the EDGE as well.

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Oklahoma misses out on in-state EDGE as four-star Bai Jobe commits to Michigan State

The Oklahoma Sooners had a loss on the recruiting trail as the state’s best player chose Michigan State over the Sooners and Alabama.

Oklahoma simply can’t win them all. As much as the Sooners may want to, they won’t get every major in-state recruit. That’s the case as the Sooners lose another in-state talent to an out-of-state school.

In this instance, 2023 four-star EDGE Bai Jobe committed to the Michigan State Spartans over the Sooners, Crimson Tide, and a few others.

Jobe, the number one player in the state of Oklahoma plays at Community Christian School in Norman, Okla. His proximity to Norman made it easier for the Sooners to recruit him but ultimately Jobe wanted to get away and spread his wings elsewhere. He becomes the highest-rated recruit in Michigan State’s class, according to the 247Sports Composite, which ranks him No. 64 overall and No. 9 at his position..

Oklahoma will rebound and land the No. 3 player in the state of Oklahoma, athlete Jacobe Johnson, a top 100 player nationally.

Projections overwhelmingly favor the Sooners here. Barring anything unforeseen, the Sooners will only bring two of the top ten players in the state out of the 2023 class. A number they’d likely like to increase as they begin to take aim at the 2024 class.

Adepoju Adebawore and Tausili Akana look like the most likely candidates to be added to the Sooners recruiting class next at the edge position, and as the dust settles on the Bai Jobe’s recruitment that’s where defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis will focus his efforts.

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A surprise projection has the Oklahoma Sooners landing Top 75 2023 LB Tausili Akana

Oklahoma earns crystal ball prediction to land top 75 2023 recruit Tausili Akana out of the state of Utah.

Reports of Oklahoma’s recruiting demise have been highly exaggerated, and we explained why here at Sooners Wire. If that doesn’t move you, what should drive you to reconsider your stance is predictions on the recruiting trail that Oklahoma will land a top 75 prospect like four-star linebacker Tausili Akana.

Akana is one of the nation’s best players and reigns supreme as the state of Utah’s number one player. At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, he’s incredibly well built for a high school player and has plenty of room to add on weight in college.

He’s plenty athletic to play the run and the pass from the edge spot but we won’t honestly know where he fits until he gets to college. His film showed him rushing the passer with his hand on the ground one play and dropping into coverage the next.

Oklahoma has been on him since last July. While the previous regime ahead of Brent Venables’ arrival started the recruitment, Brent Venables and Co. have locked in on it and were able to get Akana to sign up for an official visit on July 29th. A crystal ball projection from Parker Thune of OUInsider at 247Sports provides cautious optimism that the Sooners will land the highly-regarded defender.

Tausili Akana’s Recruiting Profile

Crystal Ball

Film

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Every EDGE defender Alabama has offered in the 2023 recruiting class

Every EDGE defender Alabama has offered in the 2023 recruiting class

Nick Saban and Alabama have dominated the competition both on the field and on the recruiting trail for more than a decade. After all, recruiting is the lifeblood of college football and nobody has done it better than Saban. The on-the-field success is a product of Saban’s ability to draw in some of the nation’s top talent.

Now that the 2022 class is wrapped up, Saban and his staff have shifted their focus to the class of 2023. Here at Roll Tide Wire, we are in the middle of a series of stories listing who Alabama has offered at each position for the class of 2023. Already completed are the quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, cornerbacks, safeties, and wide receivers that Alabama has offered in the class of 2023.

Today, we are going to take a look at the EDGE defenders.

Michigan State football offers top-50 2023 prospect Tausili Akana

Michigan State football offers top-50 2023 prospect Tausili Akana

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Now here is a recruiting process that Michigan State football fans should keep an eye on.

The Spartans offered Tausili Akana on Tuesday, a 2023 4-star EDGE linebacker who is ranked as the No. 33 best player in his class by 247Sports and the No. 3 ranked EDGE rusher in his class.

Akana is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound backer from Skyridge High School in Lehi, Utah. He is the top player in the state of Utah.

Unsurprisingly, Akana has offers from some of the big dogs in recruiting like Alabama, Clemson, Baylor, Georgia and many, many more.

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Nation’s No. 1 LB, Hawaii’s top prospect ‘very excited’ over Clemson offer

Clemson is in the hunt for the No. 1 prospect in the Aloha State and the nation’s top-ranked linebacker in the class of 2023. Kahuku (Hawaii) four-star Tausili Akana formally announced an offer from the Tigers last Saturday. He is ranked as the No. …

Clemson is in the hunt for the No. 1 prospect in the Aloha State and the nation’s top-ranked linebacker in the class of 2023.

Kahuku (Hawaii) four-star Tausili Akana formally announced an offer from the Tigers last Saturday. He is ranked as the No. 1 linebacker in the country for the 2023 class by 247Sports and the No. 1 prospect in Hawaii by ESPN, 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite.

While Akana waited until this past weekend to report the offer from the Tigers, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound rising junior actually picked up the offer in June when he was on campus to participate in the Dabo Swinney Camp.

“I was very excited and very happy,” Akana said of receiving the offer. “I know there’s not that many people out here in Hawaii that get an offer from Clemson. So, it’s something different. It was big. I was very, very excited when I got it.”

Clemson defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Venables conveyed the offer to Akana following his camp workout.

“Coach Venables, he pulled me into his office, and he was talking to me,” Akana said. “It was after the camp. So, I participated in the camp, I competed a little bit and then after the camp, he pulled me into the office. We were just talking, and then he gave me the news.”

Tausili Akana, a 2023 4-star LB from Kahuku, Hawaii, works out at Dabo Swinney’s football camp Thursday, June 10, 2021. Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider

“He really liked how I could move at my height, being at 6-4.5, and be able to move, drop into coverage and rush off the edge,” Akana added.

Akana made the trip to Clemson with his father, and both came away impressed by the coaching staff as well as the facilities.

“The facilities were very nice, and the coaches, they’re very welcoming,” Akana said. “When I got there, they were all waiting there at the door. Meeting all of them was very good.”

Head coach Dabo Swinney left a great impression on the elite recruit.

“He’s a very cool guy,” Akana said. “He cares about his players, and I just thought that was very cool. Because coming in sometimes as a freshman, I know some colleges, when you’re a freshman, it’s just a little different compared to the seniors and stuff. But he just stood out to me in a way.”

Akana and his father also traveled to Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Utah and BYU in June.

Akana, who has accumulated around 30 total offers, said Clemson is “definitely” in his top 10 and he wants to get back on campus for a game-day visit this season.

As things stand now, Akana added, he is “still just taking in the process” and is “still open to all schools.”

“I just really want to find a place where the coaching staff is great, they can develop me to the next level, on and off the field, and just a place that will be like home to me,” he said.

Akana played his sophomore season in 2020 at Wasatch High School in Heber City, Utah, after high school fall sports in Hawaii were postponed due to COVID, and he will once again play in Utah this season.

Akana’s sister, Keonilei, originally signed with the Southern Cal women’s volleyball program but played her freshman season in 2020 at Nebraska.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Breaking down Clemson’s latest scholarship offer

Clemson pulled the trigger on its latest scholarship offer Saturday, extending an offer to one of the nation’s top linebackers in the 2023 class. The Clemson Insider breaks down the Tigers’ latest offer right here: Tausili Akana, 2023 LB, Honolulu, …

Clemson pulled the trigger on its latest scholarship offer Saturday, extending an offer to one of the nation’s top linebackers in the 2023 class.

The Clemson Insider breaks down the Tigers’ latest offer right here:

Tausili Akana, 2023 LB, Honolulu, HI. (Kahuku High School)

Height, weight: 6-4, 225

Prospect ratings/rankings: 4-star, No. 1 linebacker, No. 1 state, No. 27 national (247Sports); 4-star, No. 7 position, No. 1 state, No. 15 regional (ESPN)

Clemson offered: Saturday, July 17.

Other Power Five offers: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin.

More on Akana: Brent Venables had been on Akana well before his visit to The Valley. The Hawaiian native, who is ranked as high as the nation’s No. 1 linebacker, was personally shown around Clemson’s campus by the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. He then participated in the afternoon session of Dabo Swinney Camp with Venables keeping a close eye on the highly-touted recruit.

TCI learned that Clemson offered Akana back on his visit, but he waited until Saturday to officially announce his offer. “I was very excited, very happy…It was big. I was very, very excited when I got it,” he said.

Akana played his sophomore season at Wasatch High School (Heber City, UT), due to the pandemic limiting high school sports in his native Hawaii.

Akana is primarily an outside linebacker, who has elite get off speed coming off the edge. He can also drop back into coverage when need be. Akana is a unique athlete, who would certainly be a fit in Venables’ scheme and Clemson’s culture.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Clemson offers No. 1-ranked linebacker from Hawaii

Clemson has extended an offer to a four-star linebacker from Hawaii. Kahuku High School’s Tausili Akana announced the offer from the Tigers via Twitter on Saturday evening. Truly blessed and honored to receive an offer from Clemson University …

Clemson has extended an offer to a four-star linebacker from Hawaii.

Kahuku High School’s Tausili Akana announced the offer from the Tigers via Twitter on Saturday evening.

Akana (6-4, 225) is ranked as high as the No. 1 linebacker and No. 27 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports. He is the top-ranked player in Hawaii according to ESPN, 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite.

Clemson got Akana on campus in June when he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp.

Akana played his sophomore season in 2020 at Wasatch High School in Heber City, Utah.

The rising junior owns over two dozen offers including offers from schools such as LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and Southern Cal.

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