Serra High senior Hamilton Anoa’i missed most of the 2012 football season due to a knee injury. He suffered a partial tear of his medial cruciate ligament and a full tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in the Padres' league-opening victory against Archbishop Mitty.
If not for that, Padre coach Patrick Walsh thinks Anoa'i would have been as flooded with college scholarship offers as three-star teammate Matt Dickerson, a big defensive lineman/tight end who has offers from Notre Dame, USC and Cal, to name a few.
"He's certainly a guy that would have had as much or more attention as Matt during the off-season if he had the good fortune to stay healthy," Walsh said at Monday's Next Level camp at Freitas Field. There players from around the Bay Area and beyond strutted their stuff in front of assistant coaches from Colorado, Menlo College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Sacramento. They seemed to love Anoa'i, too, as they quizzed him, measured him and observed his play closely.
The road to recovery has included months of strenuous rehabilitation and long workouts for Anoa'i in his quest to come back stronger than ever.
“Right now I’m about 95 percent, but I hope to be 100 percent by the time the season starts," he said.
Serra coach Patrick Walsh described Anoa'i's physical attributes as "“God’s gift that many of us wish we had."
Asked if he would be physically and mentally prepared for the start of the upcoming season, Anoa'i said: “In addition to my workouts, I have been reading our playbook, and watching game films from the past two years. I am ready to go.”
As for Walsh, he complimented Anoa's work ethic and dedication to the team.
“Hamilton is a great student academically and overall; just a great kid. He works hard both on and off the field”.
While the likes of Alabama haven't come calling quite yet, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound hitter and playmaker has received offers from Nevada and Eastern Washington and intense interest from Idaho.
“Right now I’m torn between Idaho and Nevada but lately Nevada has been very appealing," Anoa'i said. The Nevada Wolfpack has made a name for themselves in recent years with trips to big bowl games”.
Walsh knows Anoa'i is oozing with potential and poised to succeed both in his senior year at Serra and beyond.
"I not only see him succeeding here at Serra but also at the college level wherever that may be," said Walsh the former record-setting De La Salle star. Coincidentally, Serra opens its season at home against mighty De La Salle, ranked No. 1 in the nation in at least one preseason poll.
While the Padres would like to defeat the only teams to defeat them last year, Bellarmine (twice) and St. Francis, Anoa'i was succinct in expressing his wish.
“I want to come back 100 percent and prove that my knee injury was just a temporary setback," Anoa'i said.
