Oregon Looks to Keep Hawaii Pipeline Flowing With LB Liona Lefau

The Ducks may have found another gem from the Aloha State, and they might have an ace up their sleeve in this recruitment.

Oregon feels like it's building momentum in the 2023 class. One player they've made significant progress with is Kahuku (Hi.) linebacker Liona Lefau. 

The Ducks hosted him on campus for a visit in January and recently landed in his top schools.

Top 8. 🤔 https://t.co/xwu5XKHAmP pic.twitter.com/sDq9sKN3yU

— Lion (@LefauLiona) March 18, 2022

The 4-star (0.9139 per 247 Sports Composite) backer continues to move his recruitment forward, and felt it was the right time to trim his list.

"It's more important for me to do it now because I've wanted to make my decision before the season or during because I was planning on graduating early so I can enroll in January."

While he works his way towards a decision, he also cut down his options out of respect for coaches.

"I don't want to keep coaches messaging me if I'm not too interested in their school," Lefau said. "I didn't want to waste anyone's time."

With Oregon firmly in the running, Lefau reflected on his trip to Eugene, one that left him feeling at home.

"I loved the visit. I'm really excited about Oregon and their new coaching staff. I feel like they're bringing in something good and they're about to go into the right direction."

Liona Lefau with Dan Lanning

Liona Lefau

One relationship on the new staff is particularly strong for Lefau, and that's with Defensive Line Coach Tony Tuioti.

"He recruited me at Nebraska and I grew up with his son. We already have that instant connection from me and Coach Tuioti."

One of Tuioti's four sons, Teitum, a 2023 edge, holds an offer from the Ducks and recently transferred to nearby Sheldon High School. He stopped by the HDC when Lefau was in town for his visit, giving the long-time friends a chance to reconnect.

"We just picked it up right where we left off. He came out to the facility and we were just hanging out playing Madden."

The 6-foot-1, 215 pounder also mentioned strong relationships with Defensive Coordinator Tosh Lupoi, Head Coach Dan Lanning, and Linebackers Coach Jake Long, who he speaks with "quite often."

Lefau (right) and Teammate Leonard Ah You (left) With Jake Long

Liona Lefau

During the visit he got to sit down with the coaches and talk about their game plan for him in an Oregon defense.

"They like how I can move in the box from sideline-to-sideline, good ball skills," Lefau said. "They said they'll put me in the middle like how they use Noah Sewell, I'm kind of small right now so they said I could put on some weight. They like my speed."

Following recent visits to UCLA, USC and Oregon, the Island product is getting a better feel for what he'll value most at his next stop.

"Player development, culture, family," he said of what he's prioritizing. "The main thing is the coaches and the people I'm gonna be around and spend my time with."

As spring football kicks off around the country, Lefau is eying trips to BYU and Utah with his Pylon team. In addition to that, he's working on planning his official visits, with two schools already making strong cases.

"Most likely it's gonna be Oregon and Utah. I really like those two schools, pretty sure I'm gonna want to take those two visits."

That would leave three open spots for the Hawaii native, who also mentioned Oklahoma as another school he'd like to see in the future.

*WATCH LIONA LEFAU HIGHLIGHTS HERE*

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