Tapuvae Amaama Recaps Eye Opening Syracuse Official Visit

The class of 2022 offensive lineman is set to decide in January.

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Class of 2022 offensive lineman Tapuvae Amaama, who stars at Skyridge High in Utah, took an official visit to Syracuse over the weekend. All Syracuse caught up with Amaama, who is planning to announce his commitment at the Polynesian Bowl in January, to see how it went. 

Q: How was the visit?

Amaama: "Overall, the visit was amazing at Syracuse. I had a great time talking to all the coaches, meeting all of the GAs, meeting all of the recruiting staff members. I think my favorite part would have to be talking to the head coach, coach Babers. He's a great man, knows a lot about football. He doesn't have a big head like you'd expect head coaches to be. He's very down to earth and gets to know his players on a personal level. That's something I'm looking for. The other part that was pretty fun to me was hanging out with my host. I had a pretty good host when I was out there. It was fun. He introduced me to all the starting offensive linemen, so it was pretty cool." 

Q: Who was your host and what did he tell you about Syracuse?

Amaama: "Josh Ilaoa. He's from Charlotte. He's cool. He told me that the o-line coach, coach Schmidt, he's a hard coach but he's only hard on you because he loves you. He said being his coach is pretty hard but take the information he gives you and get better." 

Q: What did you think of the campus and the facilities?

Amaama: "They're amazing. The Dome, that was my first time being at an indoor football facility, so that was pretty awesome to see that." 

Q: What was it like getting to know coach Schmidt a bit better?

Amaama: "Coach Schmidt, overall, he was hella-cool. He was chill to me. He really loves his players. He's really family oriented. He has a family of his own, I got to meet them and introduce myself to them. He got to meet mine too. My mom, my pops and my little brother were there. It was pretty cool. He got to meet the people that made me who I am today and I got to meet the people he works for everyday. The message he was trying to get across to me was that their technique over there is different. Ever since he's transferred over there from San Diego State, he's made a big difference to their rushing game and their passing game. It was pretty cool. It was awesome." 

Q: Did you get to do a film study session with him?

Amaama: "They do a lot of outside zone and inside zone. This year I had to play tackle for my team, but he sees me as a guard. The things I had to do at tackle are almost a mirror to what they do over there. He said he could see me fitting in at their guard spot." 

Q: What stood out about the academic side of things?

Amaama: "Their person that takes care of the linemen, the academics, her name is Britney (Clarke). She's pretty straight forward with everything. She's hard on the kids. She's almost like a coach for them, just for academics. I was happy to meet her. She's the kind of person I need when it comes to school. Be straightforward with me. Someone to help keep me straight. Overall, Britney was pretty cool. That was probably the highlight for me, academics wise." 

Q: How did bowling go with some of the players and recruits?

Amaama: "My bowling, I did alright. But that night, I was kind of off. Had a couple gutter balls here and there. It was just cool meeting some of the players there." 

Q: Did Joe Cruz try to help recruit you at all?

Amaama: "Oh yeah. After that when we went to go chill with our hosts and stuff like that, he was trying to put it in there and stay in my ear about coming, joining him and stuff like that. That we would be a combo and everything." 

Q: What did the visit do for where Syracuse stands in your recruitment?

Amaama: "Going out there I didn't really have a clear picture of what Syracuse is about and what they have to offer. I had a couple of zooms here and there with coach Schmidt, but going out there, it was amazing. They opened my eyes to what they have to offer. They really showed me their technique, what their offensive linemen produced this past year and what I could produce if I went there. They stand really high on my list. They're really a top school. They're a good school I would love to go to. They're certainly really high for me and my family."