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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Fehoko sees the value in All-Poly Camp

By Billy Hull

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 02, 2009

While most players viewed this week's All-Poly Camp as a chance to gain some valuable exposure, V.J. Fehoko had his own way of looking at things.

"Full pads, man, you get to hit people," he said. "You know us Polynesian kids, we get after it. That was fun."

The camp concluded with a full-pads scrimmage yesterday at Kapiolani Park. After all the teams were done playing, camp coaches selected an all-star group for one last 11-on-11 competition.

Fehoko, who has transferred from Farrington to Kahuku for his senior season, is one of the few guys who hasn't had to worry about getting his name out to college coaches.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker says he has already been offered scholarships by 16 schools, including California, Colorado, UCLA and Texas Tech -- where his brother Sam plays -- and plans on narrowing his choices just before the season starts.

But after watching his brothers go through the recruiting process, Fehoko knows he's one of the lucky ones. Getting a chance to host this All-Poly Camp in Hawaii is a big deal for anybody looking to play at the next level.

"We're so far away from the United States, we don't get a fair look I think," Fehoko said. "Things like this puts Hawaii on the map. My brothers got to play college football because of these kinds of camps, and I hope they can continue to have them here."

Manley working for offers

Reigning Star-Bulletin state player of the year Andrew Manley has been to summer camps up and down the West Coast.

From Seattle to Los Angeles, Manley has shown his stuff to a variety of schools and has been in contact with many Pac-10 coaches.

But so far, his only offer has come from Hawaii. He attended summer camps at Washington and UCLA, but both schools have already secured a 2010 commitment from a quarterback.

"I still only have one offer, so I'm just trying to get myself out there as much as I can," Manley said. "Hopefully I have a pretty good season and some schools start offering."

Taz bounces back

With a position change looming, spring wasn't the time for Mililani's Taz Stevenson to be slowed by injury.

Unfortunately, that was exactly the case, as Stevenson sat out much of the spring and early summer with hamstring problems.

Back on the field for the first time this week, the 6-foot-2 190-pounder ended the camp by breaking up a Manley pass on the final play of the day.

"Actually I was trying to go for the catch, but I've been rusty," Stevenson said.

Stevenson spent most of his junior year on offense, but as a senior will transition to defense, where he's getting the most looks by college coaches.

Stevenson says he has received six offers, including Hawaii, Washington and Washington State.

Now introducing ...

One name that has risen out of the shadows this week is Moanalua tight end Richard Villasenor.

The 6-1 230-pounder sat out last year as a sophomore after breaking his foot, but was impressive enough to be selected the camp's lone all-star at his position. During the scrimmage, he caught two passes over the middle from Manley, and showed decisive speed and agility.

"This is what my coaches are expecting me to do this season, so I need to show them this is how I can play," he said.

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