His Job For The Taking

Michael Hoomanawanui, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound, tight end, defensive end, from Central Catholic High in Bloomington, Ill., gave Illinois his verbal commitment before the start of the ’05 season. Hoomanawanui talks about his senior season, Illinois official visit and his plans for his freshman season in Champaign.

“My commitment to Illinois has always been solid.” Michael Hoomanawanui said.

“Once I committed to Illinois, most of the recruiting stopped. I received the same letters that the schools send out but nothing earth shattering. At the end of the year, Iowa made a big push for me. Iowa told my coach that if I had an interest in them, they had an interest in me.”

There was a good reason for Iowa being interested in Hoomanawanui. Michael had a tremendous senior season. As a tight end, Hoomanawanui had 843 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.

Hoomanawanui had an even better year on the defensive side of the football racking up 139 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 10 sacks from his defensive end position.

Which position will Hoomanawanui play for the Fighting Illini?

“I talked to the Illinois coaches a lot during my official visit and I’ll definitely be starting out at tight end. That’s the position that I want to play and I feel there’s an opportunity there for me next year at Illinois.

“From what I was told, Melvin Bryant isn’t coming back next season. There are a couple of tight end’s on campus already but the coaches told me that if I come in and work hard that the position is mine for the taking.”

Hoomanawanui helped lead Central Catholic to a 9-3 record. He was named all-state by the Champaign News-Gazette (defensive end) as well as the Chicago Tribune (defensive end) and the Chicago Sun-Times (tight end).