Two players in Saturday night’s Polynesian Bowl announced they would attend Oregon next year.
Three-star defensive tackle Austin Faoliu was first, then linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia pledged to the Ducks.
Faoliu — a Santa Ana, California, native — picked the Ducks over Oklahoma and others, according to The Oregonian. Faoliu is the third former Arizona pledge to commit to the Ducks after head coach Willie Taggart was hired in December. The Ducks also flipped QB Braxton Burmeister and RB Darrian McNeal.
Faoliu checks in at 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds. He’s ranked the No. 9 defensive tackle on the West Coast by Scout and becomes the fourth 2017 defensive tackle commit in the Ducks’ 2017 class, per The Oregonian.
3* DT Austin Faoliu (@Faoliu_10) has committed to Oregon over Oklahoma, others pic.twitter.com/asiWGCpSCy
— Andrew Nemec (@AndrewNemec) January 22, 2017
“I’ve talked to coach (Jim) Leavitt and coach (Willie) Taggart, and I’ve liked the way they’ve been presenting themselves to me over the phone,” Faoliu told Scout.com. “Their new defensive line coach, Joe Salave’a, has been recruiting me since he was at Washington State. I felt like family with him. He’s a good defensive line coach and he told me that if I’m looking to go to the league, he’s going to help me get there.”
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Slade-Matautia, a four-star linebacker from Honolulu, picked the Ducks over Nebraska, Hawaii, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and UCF. 247Sports reported that he visited Eugene last weekend. 247Sports has Slade-Matautia as the nation’s No. 18-ranked outside linebacker.
Slade-Matautia will graduate from Honolulu’s St. Louis High School, Marcus Mariota’s alma mater.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound prospect received an Oregon offer last month.
“The visit was great,” he told The Oregonian. “The new staff there will do great things for the Oregon football program.”
4* LB Isaac Slade-Matautia commits to Oregon over Nebraska pic.twitter.com/1ReKJIm8SW
— Andrew Nemec (@AndrewNemec) January 22, 2017
Faoliu highlights:
Slade-Matautia highlights:
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
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