BOOM! 3-Star OL Sean Auwae Commits To UCLA
Dec 31, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Xavier Su
3-star offensive lineman Sean Auwae is UCLA’s 16th commit in the 2016 football recruiting class.
UCLA has landed its first offensive line commitment in the 2016 class, as 3-star center Sean Auwae (Kapolei, HI/Kapolei) committed to the Bruins on Friday afternoon. The Bruins emerged victorious in the race to land Auwae’s commitment out of a group of six also including Louisville, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Utah, and Vanderbilt.
Following my heart baby! Blessed and happy with my decision! Thank god #TGOD pic.twitter.com/0OesZkgF9j
— Foa (@FoaMcmoore) August 14, 2015
#UCLA has picked up a commitment from three-star OL Toleafoa Auwae, the No. 1 center out West http://t.co/G78MmSPwrh pic.twitter.com/iHnicj0PMS
— Blair Angulo (@BlairAngulo) August 14, 2015
Kapolei (Hawaii) OL Sean Auwae just announced his commitment to #UCLA, top rated center in the West regionhttp://t.co/u2gsQRHTY1
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) August 14, 2015
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Auwae, a bruising lineman from Hawai’i, was a little-known offensive line recruit throughout his junior season but burst onto the recruiting scene this past spring with a series of strong camp performances on the mainland, particularly at The Opening regional camp in Los Angeles where he was named the offensive line MVP. At 6-feet-4-inches and 285 pounds, Auwae has a great frame for an interior lineman and packs a ferocious and violent punch at the point of attack.
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The young Hawai’ian plans to still take all five of his official visits, but it’s hard to see a kid from the Islands who has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles over the past few months flipping to a relatively foreign and far-flung outpost like Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech) instead based on a weekend-long visit in the fall. Assuming the Bruins are able to hold onto his commitment until Signing Day in early February, Auwae figures to only become stronger, faster, and more explosive as he puts in time in Sal Alosi’s strength-and-conditioning program at UCLA.
As mentioned previously, Auwae is the first offensive lineman in the 2016 class to commit to UCLA offensive line coach Adrian Klemm and the Bruins. After Klemm’s suspension for NCAA rules violations in mid-March, the Bruins lost a lot of traction with its top offensive line targets. Despite Klemm’s subsequent reinstatement three months later, many of those initial targets have since committed elsewhere or are no longer considering UCLA.
However, Auwae’s commitment gives the Bruins a lot of breathing room going forward. After taking five offensive linemen in a star-studded 2015 haul, the 2016 offensive line class was always going to be relatively smaller so that more scholarships could be distributed to other positions after offensive linemen made up over 25% of the 2015 class. With Auwae now filling one of those limited spots, Klemm will be able to be very discerning and picky going forward as he finds the one or two others who will join Auwae in the 2016 class as UCLA’s offensive linemen of the future.
Welcome to Westwood, Sean!
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