Defensive lineman Kirifi Taula (Anaheim, Calif./Servite) has made some changes to his list and is no longer considering an early heavy leader.
Taula is a very talented defensive tackle prospect and he really elevated his performance this past season. The ability was always there, but this past season he put more work in the offseason and the proverbial light bulb seemed to switch on the field as well.
"I never lifted weights before," Taula said. "This past summer is the first year I did and I did a lot of running as well. I came in to the season in the best shape of my life and felt so much stronger and more active. I was able to play on both sides of the ball and not get tired and I was still feeling strong in the fourth quarter of games."
The only thing that slowed down Taula was a broken arm suffered in Week 8 of the season. He missed several games, but tried to gut it out for the Friars big semifinal game against Mission Viejo two weeks ago.
The four-star prospect could only play the first half and said afterwards that he broke his arm and was done for the year.
"I thought I had re-broken it," Taula said. "What actually happened was some of the scar tissue had broken apart and it felt like I had re-broken it. It hurt pretty bad but I knew I had to get back out there and play against Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) because that game was for the championship.
"I finally got a doctor to clear me a few days before the game and went out there and tried my best. I was feeling the arm more than normal because it was raining so hard and my cast felt like it weighed 20 pounds. Once the adrenaline got going, the pain went away, but it was still tough to get much range of motion but I was just excited to be out there and help us get a win."
On the recruiting front, Taula had been a heavy UCLA lean since the summer and several close to him said an early commitment was possible.
"I just kind of stopped feeling the vibe from UCLA," Taula said. "It's tough to explain but it doesn't seem like they were recruiting me as aggressively as some of the other schools. The more I got to know these other schools, the more I started to lean in that direction. I still hear from UCLA every other week or so but they haven't tried to set up an official visit or come in for a home visit like the others on my list.
"Right now, I would probably say Arizona is my top school, but I really like Washington and Oregon State a lot too. Coach (Mike) Tuiasosopo at UA is recruiting me the hardest and my family really likes him a lot. I took an unofficial visit there last February and really liked it there. Plus a lot of guys on my team are looking to go to Arizona too, just as regular students, and it would be cool to go to the same school as them.
"I like coach (Nick) Holt at UW a lot too. He gets fired up and is a lot of fun to talk with. I'm looking forward to visiting there for sure and learning more about the school and the campus."
Taula said his first visit will be to Oregon State (Jan. 15) and is still working out dates for UA and UW.
"I kind of flip flop on when I'll take those last two," Taula said. "Right now I have Washington (Jan 22.) and Arizona the last weekend of the month, but I could flip those two. It just depends on whatever school I'm feeling the most at the time.
"I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm going to visit both schools anyway. It might be even be best for whichever school to get the last visit because I'm the kind of person who I know will be influenced by whoever makes the last impression so we'll see how it goes."
Taula has made up a lot of ground in the classroom as well and is on track to qualify.
"I recently re-took the SAT and did pretty well," Taula said. "The first time I took it, it was my junior year and I wasn't really prepared for it. I was told Notre Dame wanted to see my transcripts and needed an SAT score so I took it real quick and didn't do that well.
"This last time, I scored about 600 points higher and I'm good to go now. I'm also carrying a 2.9 GPA and doing well in all my classes, so I'll be set to go in the fall wherever I chose to sign."
