As Marcus Mariota donned his Hawaiian and Samoan leis, he accepted his Heisman Trophy as the first Hawaiian born player to ever win the award. At that moment, the world was reminded of the talent growing up on the Islands. It’s a group of talented kids that Ole Miss recruiting needs to take a hard look at.
The colleges and universities on the West coast have consistently recruited all of the Islands well. It is not uncommon to see the Polynesian culture represented at those schools. However, many of those players played at high schools in Hawaii. Although a few have come over to play in the SEC, the Islands are not as well represented here, in the Southeast, as they are out West.