Trinity League Media Day Coverage (Part One)

The six head coaches of the Trinity League teams and select players gathered at The Grand in Long Beach last Friday to promote their programs and field questions from the media. A dozen media members attended and here were my thoughts from the event. St. John Bosco opened the press conference and coach <strong>Jason Negro</strong> brought some of his top players. Negro announced that unfortunately sophomore defensive star [player_tooltip player_id="115443" first="Kyngstonn" last="Viliamu-Asa"] will likely miss the entire season with a knee injury he suffered in the spring finale against Mater Dei. Viliamu-Asa is the top player in California’s 2024 class in my opinion and honestly I don’t think it’s close. The Braves are returning three of the five offensive lineman from the spring. [player_tooltip player_id="25226" first="Earnest" last="Greene"] is the headliner of the group as a four-year starter and holding offers from all the major schools. <span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Tyson Molio’o</strong> and <strong>Maicah Talavou</strong> are returning on the offensive line as well. Molio’o has offers from Boise State, Idaho State, San Jose State and UNLV. Talavou has offers from Army and Navy. <strong>David Mayoral</strong> is expected to start and he has a couple of Division 3 offers.</span> Bosco has a few players who can either play in the secondary or come up and play linebacker. [player_tooltip player_id="25257" first="Jalen" last="Woods"], a UCLA commit and [player_tooltip player_id="25253" first="Sione" last="Hala"], a Boston College commit are prime examples of this. "I think the success you have on defense is determinant on how versatile you can be," Negro said. "If your kids are able to be versatile, play different positions and adapt to different scenarios, you’re going to be successful." Greene elaborated a bit on his trip to Columbus for the camp at Ohio State. He got to learn from former Bosco lineman and now Minnesota Viking <strong>Wyatt Davis</strong> and go through workouts with the Ohio State coaching staff. <span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is a blessing to be recruited by such a prestigious program,” Greene said. “Being able to shadow Wyatt (Davis) in class and workout with the same coach, walk the same hallways as that guy was just a blessing.”</span> Defensive lineman and Navy commit [player_tooltip player_id="25302" first="Jairus" last="Satele"] said that losing to Mater Dei inspired the Braves defensive line and fueled their workouts this offseason. <span style="font-weight: 400;">“We had a short offseason but we came together earlier than anybody,” Satele said. “The defensive line: me, [player_tooltip player_id="25245" first="Nathan" last="Burrell"], [player_tooltip player_id="141948" first="Malachi" last="Finau"] and Matayo have been working since that weekend.”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“It motivated us so much that we mention it every day at every practice we have. We always know the goal and that is nothing less than a championship at this program.”</span> Negro talked about tight end [player_tooltip player_id="25456" first="Matayo" last="Uiagalelei"] and how he is a matchup nightmare for defenses. "It’s a head coach mandate to the offensive coordinator, ’you better figure this out. We got somebody that nobody else has,’" Negro said. "We can split him out and out him against defensive backs like we did in the Mater Dei game and put us in some good situations. If you’re going to double team him, I think we are talented enough at the other three spots to do some things that can hurt people." https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1423677008974815239?s=20 Santa Margarita defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="141878" first="Hero" last="Kanu"] was the star of the day. He is an immigrant from Germany who has only played six games of football and already has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, USC, Texas and Oklahoma among many others. “He’s a behemoth, a dancing bear,” Santa Margarita coach <strong>Anthony Rouzier</strong> said of Kanu. “And the best thing is, he’s still only 16.” Receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="146522" first="Jalen" last="Jones"]</strong> and tight end <strong>Niko Lopez</strong> were in attendance and talked about what it’s like playing with new transfer quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="25428" first="Jaxon" last="Potter"]. "I’ve seen him at JSerra, seen he was a great kid. Once we found out he was transferring to SM, I immediately hit him up to throw with him," Jones said. "The chemistry so far between me, him, Niko and our other receivers is great. He is a great leader." "I knew him from his freshman year from playing against him," Lopez said of Potter. "We have been throwing every day every week. He has grown as a man and is a great leader and I’m blessed to have him as my QB." Offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="143134" first="Kilian" last="O’Connor"] was at the event and the clear leader of the Eagles’ offensive line. He talked about some of his favorite players to match up against in league and mentioned Servite’s [player_tooltip player_id="141891" first="Mason" last="Graham"]. O’Connor has an offer from Columbia. https://twitter.com/ocvarsityguy/status/1423688197377196032?s=20 Orange Lutheran wrapped up the day with new coach <strong>Rod Sherman</strong>, who used to coach the Lancers during a very successful time in the program. Receiver <strong>Brendan Hale</strong> talked about how the goal is to win every game but the Lancers need to take a game-by-game approach in order to improve every week. “Look at the next opponent … like, what do we have right now?” Hale said. “Start there first and move on through the rest of the season, not get caught up in a lot of records and what happened last year.” Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="25295" first="Logan" last="Gonzalez"] split time as a sophomore and got to be the lone starter for the five games in the spring. He says that experience was valuable and he has learned from new quarterbacks coach <strong>Aaron Corp</strong>, who was a star at Orange Lutheran and played his college ball at USC. "I can truly see the game slowing down," Gonzalez said. "I understand fronts, defenses, knowing where to go with the ball. Coach Corp has come in and helped and we clicked right away." Gonzalez has an offer from Nevada. https://twitter.com/mikehuntley63/status/1423746307055767554?s=20