UCLA Football: Laiatu Latu Nominated For His First Hall Of Fame

The redshirt junior is racking up accolades.

The hits just keep coming for UCLA Bruins senior defensive end Laiatu Latu.

Fresh off winning a slew of honors (the Lombardi Award, the Ted Hendricks Award, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Award, and his second consecutive First-Team All-Pac-12 honor), the 6'5" Sacramento native is in the running for another.

Per UCLA Communications, the 22-year-old numbers among the 10 finalists for this year's Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.

Latu has some stiff competition. Utah defensive lineman Jonah Elliss, Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu, Oregon State offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Cal running back Jaydn Ott, Kansas offensive lineman Dominick Puni, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, Ohio State defensive lineman J.T. Tuimoloau and Utah defensive back Sione Vaki are the other candidates for this honor.

After being a four-star recruit at Jesuit High School, where he was named an All-California First Teamer, Latu turned down offers from the Bruins and the USC Trojans in favor of a gig with the Washington Huskies. He enjoyed an incredibly promising freshman season with Washington, notching 16 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while leading the Huskies' defense to the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl. 

A major neck injury in a preseason practice put his entire football future in jeopardy, and he even retired in 2021 initially. He later transferred to UCLA in 2022, submitting his best season to that point and winning his first First-Team All-Pac award.

This year, Latu recorded 49 tackles (28 solo), 13 sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and two passes defended.

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