Salt Lake Tribune - Muli signs with Snow!

Here is the story, by Jay Drew:

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Football: Snow signs 21, including 18 Utahns

BYU didn't land a highly sought after football player from Hawaii's Punahou School, but Snow College in Ephraim did.

The Badgers, who played in the junior college national championship game last fall at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, have signed 21 players, coach Steve Coburn said Tuesday.

Among the 21 is Trevor Iosefa, a defensive lineman from Punahou who was teammates with Manti Te'o, the five-star linebacker who was heavily recruited by BYU but signed with Notre Dame.

Eighteen of Snow's signees are from Utah, while one is from Florida and the other is from Pennsylvania.

The Badgers recruited just one quarterback, Alta's Ammon Olsen, but he signed with Southern Utah.

Coburn said the program doesn't have a big need for a QB because former Timpview star Quin Mecham is expected to return for his sophomore season. Behind him, there is a logjam of QBs, some of whom have recently returned from church missions, vying to be the backup.

Of course, Snow's primary QB last fall, former Hillcrest star Jon Eastman, has signed with Colorado State. We will have more on where other former Snow standouts are heading in a later post.

Coburn said that in past years the Badgers have gone after more players who had Division I offers but failed to qualify academically. This year, he recruited more guys who were qualifiers, but didn't have many D-I offers.

Of course, there are exceptions. With no other football-playing junior colleges in the state, Snow coaches increasingly find themselves recruiting against Southern Utah, Weber State and Dixie State.

Some of the signees that Coburn is especially excited about are Layton running back LaVaughn Jackson, Manti linebacker Griffen Aste and Manti receiver Nick Brown.

Highland linebacker Muli Kinikini is one of the players that drew some D-I interest and offers, but signed with Snow just in case he doesn't qualify.

Here's the list of Snow signees:

NAME POSITION HIGH SCHOOL HOMETOWN
Austin Jones DB Orem HS (Orem, Utah)
Kimball Jensen DB Layton HS (Layton, Utah)
Junior Cole DB Northridge HS (West Point, Utah)
Trey Phillips DB Alta HS (Draper, Utah)
Brayden Compton DB Sky View HS (North Logan, Utah)
Shawn Smith DB Hialeah HS (Hialeah, Florida)
Trevor Iosefa DL Punahou HS (Ewa Beach, Hawaii)
Griffen Aste LB Manti HS (Manti, Utah)
Muli Kinikini LB Highland HS (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Robert Atiga LB Hunter HS (West Valley City, Utah)
Riley Spackman LB Sky View HS (Hyde Park, Utah)
Josh Thompson K Logan HS (Logan, Utah)
Stephen Gwynn WR Logan HS (Providence, Utah)
Nick Brown WR Manti HS (Ephraim, Utah)
Ronrei Lloyd WR Woodland Hills HS (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Jake Vallieres OL Kearns HS (Kearns, Utah)
Dallin Powell OL Layton HS (Layton, Utah)
LaVaughn Jackson RB Layton HS (Layton, Utah)
Tenny Palepoi DL Skyline HS (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Al Lapuaho DL Granger HS (West Valley City, Utah)
Sam Katoa DL American Fork HS (American Fork, Utah)

Muli Signs With Snow Junior College

Well, it's been a hectic few months. We've been trying our hardest to get Muli to pass the ACT Exam, and have been running into a wall. He's slated for the April exam date, and hopefully with some tutoring and ACT prep courses, we can knock this thing out, and move on.
Muli's academics has been an area of concern for some programs who've come calling, and they've made the decision to move in other directions, and those that have chosen to give Muli time, have offered him preferred walk-on status.
Muli has signed with the Snow College Badgers program out of Ephraim, Utah. They have a rich tradition, and have turned out some very talented players that have gone on to stardom on the D-1 level, and the NFL. But, he has a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Utah, which hinges on his ACT score. Either route would be beneficial in its own way, and detrimental as well, but the important thing is a college education, and a free one at that!
Good luck on the ACT, and if we can't attain the required score, good luck as a Snow Badger, either way, we're with you all the way #3!