Hawaii Wide Receiver Includes Terps in Top Ten
James Campbell (HI) wide receiver Titus Mokaio-Atimalala has taken the next step in his recruitment.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Hawaiian wideout took to Twitter on Friday to release his top ten of Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Virginia, UCF, UCLA, USC and Utah.
Mokaio-Atimalala has not been able to venture to many of his top suitors as schools hoped Zoom meetings gave an accurate depiction of the program. “It’s been an impact for sure, making it kind of hard because I wanted to visit a lot of the schools since I haven’t really gone there,” he told All Terrapins last month. “Virtual visits have kind of been helping it out, there’s no feeling like being on campus and experiencing it in-person so for now, it’s about what the school has to offer. What the business program looks like because that’s what I want to go into.”
Maryland has maintained their push to add a second wide receiver alongside Tai Felton and for the Terps, they have an advantage with Taulia Tagovailoa and Challen Faamatau in the program. Wide receiver coach Joker Phillips spearheads his recruitment as he hopes to edge the West Coast suitors along with Notre Dame.
“They want me to play wide receiver because they love my ball skills. All they can do is prepare me, just releasing routes, getting in and out of breaks and stuff. They said my ball skills are unteachable and that’s something I’m truly blessed in. They’re excited about me.”
The initial SI All-American candidate flashed on both sides of the ball for Campbell a season ago, translating his soft hands his length into the secondary as a two-way starter.
Makiao-Atimalala is just a great all-around football player that does what it takes to win on the high school level. He plays a great centerfield safety, and perhaps that’s where he ends up in college but the natural hands and ability to make a play after the catch lend itself to playing wideout.
Mokaio-Atimalala finished his junior season with 1,136 receiving yards and eighteen touchdowns on 62 receptions as he capped his year named the Cover2 Marcus Mariota Player of the Year.
