Togiai is an exciting young recruit from Utah with ties to Hawai’i
The 2015-16 season and beyond might seem like a long way off for the Hawai’i basketball team, but the Warriors are already looking at recruits for those future years.
Here’s a name to remember for that recruiting class: Noah Togiai.
The 6-foot-4 guard/forward is a dynamic player out of West Valley, Utah, and he has direct family ties to Hawai’i. He is of Samoan ancestry, and spent some of his youth years on the North Shore of Oahu.
“My family is all born over there … born and raised in Laie,” Noah said. “Every one of my family is out there (in Hawaii) except for my (immediate) family.”
Togiai’s parents, Kyle and Gina, are Kahuku High School graduates who moved to Utah a few years ago for work purposes.
Noah has not committed to a college, mostly because he still has two years of high school remaining. He has already emerged as one of the top young prospects in the state of Utah, and averaged around 15 points and five rebounds per game as a sophomore at Hunter High School last season.
This summer, he was a star player in the Under 16 division for Utah Pump N Run, which is considered the top AAU program in the state of Utah. At the adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas last month, Togiai was routinely wowing the crowd with alley-oop dunks and strong drives to the basket.
“Just high-energy, always crashing the boards and drive to the basket,” is how he described his style of play.
His play also attracted the attention of college coaches, and Noah said he has already been offered to play at Utah, Utah State … and Hawai’i. The list is likely to grow during his junior year of high school, but he said Hawai’i has an early advantage.
“That’s one of the main ones I’m thinking about,” he said.
Two-Years (of HS) left to balance out that high-energy game with the mid-range to three game;
that ability to drive and board, should also force the defense to give space to go straight up…
and Togiai also has the physicality to bang, contact and finish…
and like we all wish…he’s also got time to keep growing taller
(although 6-4 with physicality can already get a lot done)
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On Parallel Paths — looks like AV has started to bridge that athleticism vs skill gap well;
maybe two or three seasons ahead of Garrett Jefferson or Geremy Robinson (or even MJ).
…and NWC pretty much got it all? (other than the 1-1/2 year wait)
Excellent recruiter attracts finer players >> Exciting/enjoyable MBB (expectation into fruition).
Noah+basketball = Joakim Noah (Chicago Bull);
Power & speed.. (fans love to see).
Evan Fitzner, Tai Wynyard, Noah Togiai.. ( better >> best).
Right here where the fits going all-in..
We’ll be drooling for years!
The best thing I can say about Togiai is that he is young, with “potential”. Hard to predict for the future but he bears watching the next year and how much he grows. Doesn’t seem to have much of an outside shot, but you never know. But he is a leaper and a hustler and rebounds the ball pretty well. I would think that he can grow to 6’6″ to 6’7″ by the time he’s a senior.
Dayton and WI, sponsors, thank you very much for video updates on future recruits. Makes for a lot of excitement for next few years. That is the reality of NCAA DI MBB recruiting, establish early contact, and follow young guys development over several years, then make offer.
For this year, a lot of guys, want to be part of UH MBB team, which is great! Word getting around, if you have heart, character, book smarts and athletic ability, come to the University of Hawaii, and help program to grow and be successful for years to come.
Love the local connection and UH alumni family contacts as well, with Noah and Evan Fitzner.
Good job Gib, keep recruiting and putting out the word: UH MBB is back on the REBOUND!
Well, he’s definitely has 2 years of hs ball.
but man, with that size. He should also take up fb. He moves quite well for his height
Love hustle players. He looks to fit the prototype of a dirty work type of guy. Got a little flash and some hop, but is mostly a hustle guy. If he fills out and grows a few more inches he could develop into maybe a Rodman type player. Out hustles everyone on the court. We already got Standhardinger, but once he leaves, someone needs to bring that energy. Looks like there’s a lot of talent out here in Utah football and basketball wise. Can’t wait for Kahuku to play East High in football up here, I guess I will have to invest in a Red Raider shirt…
Dayton, do you know if Gib’s gonna offer Togiai’s AAU teammate PF Tyler Rawson soon? Or are we gonna wait for Fitzner’s decision first?
by 2015 we should be bringing top talent
Potential power forward if he grows another 3 inches we hope! I see coach Fisher in the stands, the guy with all the white hair ! go Fish ! go getum!
Fish there, along with Coach Akana next to him in green, and Coach Gib in black. Nearly the entire staff there. They must really like him.
As long as we are talkiing future, anything new on coach Akana’s nephew in DC?? He’s class of 2016 or 2017 I think??
Just spoke with a very reliable source about Coach Akana’s nephew. Only 13 and already had a three verbal offers. That’s all he can get right now at that age. Rumor is UH is one of them. The bad thing is, Maryland is another. No way he picks UH over Maryland. Anyway, saw him play in the summer league at Kalaheo. He was playing for some JV team that hardly used him. The next day, I saw him play at Kalaheo, he was leading Alika Smith’s Varsity team in a win over Alika’s Senior Mustangs. The guys that just won the State Tournament. He is very fast, dribbles the ball very well, shot the ball well, but his passing ability was CRAAAAAZZZY. I saw him steal the ball from Josh Ko twice. Just rip it out of his hands while Ko was attacking the basket. Josh is the Gatorade Player of the Year. He took the ball away from him like it was nothing. This source say’s they are hoping for Brandon’s nephew, Josiah to be playing for Alika this year. Don’t know if that’s true. We’ll see. He is class of 2017, maybe 2018 if he goes to prep school. When I spoke to Kahi in the stands, he was telling me that it would be hard to pull him away from the everyday competition in DC/Baltimore/Virginia, although he knows that his good friend Alika would be the person he would send his son to if he did decide to send Josiah home.