LAS VEGAS — The 2026 Adidas Polynesian Bowl National Combine & Showcase returned to Bishop Gorman High School over the weekend.
Several of the top recruits in the country from the class of ’27, ’28 and even ’29 were on hand to compete in hopes of earning an invite to the 2027 Adidas Polynesian Bowl.
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Here’s some of the latest recruiting news and notes we picked up following the event.
– Salt Lake (Utah) West quarterback Kamden Lopati was one of the highest rated players in the event, checking in as the No. 122 player nationally in the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services. Lopati is a longtime Illinois commitment but said he does plan to take several un-official visits this spring and a handful of official trips as well.
His unofficial visit schedule starts with Note Dame March 27 followed by trips to Michigan April 3 and Florida April 7. and Georgia, who just offered, could get an unofficial visit as well but nothing is set up yet. His first official visit will be to Illinois April 10 and Cal on June 12. The Bears are a serious player as Lopati’s father has a longstanding relationship with Bears QB coach Nick Rolovich. Notre Dame, who Lopati said is the childhood favorite, should also get an official visit but the two sides still need to work out a date.
– Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) athlete Gideon Gash was another headliner and currently rated the No. 97 player nationally in the Rivals Industry Ranking. Gosh told us he has a top six led by Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Indiana, Alabama and LSU. Gash’s most recent visit was to Oklahoma for the Sooners, ‘Future Freak,’ event and he raved about his time in Norman. His older brother Samson Gash signed with Michigan State in February and Gideon said the two have always dreamed of playing their college ball together. Gash said he’s planning to visit Texas Tech and LSU in April and will then set official visits with all five of his favorites. A decision is expected later summer before his senior year.
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– Richmond (Va.) Benedictine tight end Sam Faniel is a four-star prospect and the No. 16 rated tight end by Rivals.com. He said the schools pushing hardest right now are Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Alabama, Colorado and Texas A&M. He has official visits lined up to Arizona State 11, Virginia Tech May 29 and Florida State June 5. He already took unofficial visits to all three programs as well and it sounds like Faniel has the best relationship with those three programs right now.
– Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei offensive lineman Lex Mailangi will be a rare four-year starter for the Monarchs. He currently has four of his official visits locked in, UCLA May 15, Cal May 28, SMU June 5 and Oregon June 19. He said he’s deciding between Alabama and Michigan for his final visit. Mailangi has already unofficially visited Oregon and UCLA and will take a visit to Cal the first weekend of April. He said the Ducks are the school that has been the most consistent in recruiting him and the school he feels most connected with as well.
– Hesperia (Calif.) Oak Hills defensive lineman Sione Felila is a high three-star prospect, rated the No. 70 defensive lineman in the country and No. 53 player in the state in the Rivals Industry Ranking. His most recent visit was to Oklahoma for the ‘Future Freak,’ event and it sounds like the Sooners are in a good spot right now. The big tackle has official visits locked in with Cal June 5, Kansas June 12 and BYU June 19 and he’s setting a return visit to OU for an official as well as an official to Arizona State. Cal looks to be the toughest competition for the Sooners, largely due to Felila’s relationship with head coach Tosh Lupoi who was recruiting him while at Oregon.
– Spanish Fork (Utah) Maple Mountain edge Uhila Wolfgramm has locked in all five of his official visits. It’s a hectic schedule as he’s one of the few players we’ve seen with plans to visit six schools officially. Arizona State is up first with a visit on April 24 followed by UCLA May 15, Boise State May 28, North Carolina June 5, Utah June 12 and BYU June 18. He has already been to BYU unofficially and is planning to check out North Carolina and Texas A&M the first week of April. Arizona and UCLA are expected to get unofficial visits in mid-April as well.
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2028 Prospects
-Las Vegs (Nev.) Bishop Gorman defensive lineman Tayaun Lawrence is an early four-star prospect in the ’28 class and rated the No. 88 player nationally in the Rivals Industry Ranking. He told us he has a current top three right now led by Washington, Arizona and Ohio State. He has never visited any of the three programs but is hoping to get to all of them this spring. His DL coach at Gorman is former Buckeye Haskell Garrett and that combined with the schools reputation for developing defensive lineman has the Buckeyes high on his list. His former Gaels teammate Prince Williams is a freshman at Arizona and has talked up the Wildcat program to Lawrence. The Huskies were Lawrence’s second scholarship offer, offering during his freshman season and have been aggressive recruiting him ever since.
– Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon offensive lineman Lance Ciechanowski is another top 100 player in the ’28 class and checks in as the No. 53 rated player nationally Rivals Industry Ranking. Ciechanowski said his current top two is Texas and Arizona State. He camped with the Longhorns last summer and will be back on campus March 28. He visited ASU twice including a game day visit last season and will be back in Tempe April 11. Ciechanowski is setting a visit to Oregon and the Ducks are high on the list. USC is a strong option as well and Ciechanowski has been on campus multiple times and the idea of staying close to home is intriguing for him. Michigan and Penn State were mentioned as ‘dream offers’ and schools Ciechanowski has always been high on.
– Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco edge Elijah Tuua is yet another top 100 player in the ’28 class and is currently rated No. 97 in the Rivals Industry Ranking. West Virginia is the latest offer for Tuua after an unofficial visit following a 5v5 event back East. UCLA also offered at the Bruins Junior Day in January and he’s hoping to visit for spring practice. Tennessee would be a dream offer for Tuua and he’s hoping to visit this spring. Arizona State is another school he would like to visit this off-season.
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2029 Prospect
– Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco athlete Kuika Moaalii is on the short list when talking about the top player in the California ’29 class. He attended the Poly Bowl Combine a year ago and made our top performers list and dominated at safety and receiver. He has early scholarship offers from schools like Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. He called the Ducks his dream school growing up and USC is high on the list as well after a recent campus visit. Two schools Moaalii said he’s hoping to visit this off-season that he has high interest are LSU and Oklahoma.
