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2025 Iose Epenesa 5* Edge from IL

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Artist Formerly Known As said:
Pretty crazy two 5 star brothers come out of an area like that. I was always surprised AJ ended up at Iowa.
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We shouldn't be surprised. Apparently both his dad an older brothers played there. Iose's dad's timeline is full of Iowa tweets and UCLA too (haven't figured out that connection but he's cheering for Megan Faraimo)

 
Artist Formerly Known As said:
Pretty crazy two 5 star brothers come out of an area like that. I was always surprised AJ ended up at Iowa. Hopefully we can get in on his recruitment
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You really would think Edwardsville would produce more top football players seeing that they are one of the biggest schools in the metro east area. I think they are one or two classes bigger than East St.Louis and obviously Eastside dominates them regardless.
 
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BTW, I an almost guarantee you that AJ, his brothers and pops weren't wearing shorts in March while they were at Iowa.
 
[]_[]nique said:
You really would think Edwardsville would produce more top football players seeing that they are one of the biggest schools in the metro east area. I think they are one or two classes bigger than East St.Louis and obviously Eastside dominates them regardless.
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Too nice of an area IMO. It’s basically a nice suburb of St. Louis. But yeah, for their size, they don’t produce much. Especially for one of the richest school districts in the state.

Most good athletes from the metro east come from ESL or Belleville.
 
lindend said:
AJ came down with him on an unofficial? Interesting. If pops is here too, then that would be REALLY interesting.
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Pops was there!




Here's @RVACane summary on Wiltfong's article

The most interesting quote is from Epenesa’s father and in line with things we’ve been told by @Samoan Souljah . As reported and provided by Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports, Eppy Epenesa, who is the father of 5 star 2025 edge Iose Epenesa, stated that:


It was pretty cool to talk to Coach Salave’a. Coach Salave’a my kids call him uncle because that’s because I grew up with him from American Samoa. He was the contact guy for Iose. It was great to see him and see his family and sit down and talk regular. He’s like family. He’s like a little brother to me. It feels good you have somebody you can trust to talk to Iose. After that we met up with Coach Cristobal, he’s straight-forward and he let Iose know he’s going to recruit him hard and he’s going to try and get him. He needs some defensive linemen and he needs some defensive ends and he’s going to work hard to recruit him. I thought that was pretty neat.”​
www.canesinsight.com

2024 - Junior Day 2023 March 4

www.canesinsight.com www.canesinsight.com
 
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I'm just now beginning to understand why Poly recruiting is a tough nut to crack. You could spend years/decades recruiting Samoans and get no results, all the while not realizing that unless you have someone on staff they can trust, you're doomed to failure.

In just two cycles here, Mario and Coach Joe have had a very nice return on investment and I hope to see their efforts bear even more fruit in the future as additional trust/bonding is established.
 
lindend said:
I'm just now beginning to understand why Poly recruiting is a tough nut to crack. You could spend years/decades recruiting Samoans and get no results, all the while not realizing that unless you have someone on staff they can trust, you're doomed to failure.

In just two cycles here, Mario and Coach Joe have had a very nice return on investment and I hope to see their efforts bear even more fruit in the future as additional trust/bonding is established.
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The Mauigoa bros are cream of the crop imo. For us to pick them up says alot. I know other families are now looking. All it takes is one big fish, for the rest to become curious about whats going down in CG. I'd pick Joe and MC over Freeze and Coach Ben Aigamua (TE coach). Joe's been in the league and is known as a Samoan OG. Lol.
 
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TimeBum said:
Ah yes, the McDonalds. First time I ever saw the Grand Big Mac. L&L BBQ is kinda fast foodish, though I guess it's more "medium speed" than "fast food."
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We dont have an L&L in Am Samoa. Although, there are a ton of mom and pops that cook like L&L. It used to be 2 mcds. But the other one in Pago Pago closed down.
 
Samoan Souljah said:
The Mauigoa bros are cream of the crop imo. For us to pick them up says alot. I know other families are now looking. All it takes is one big fish, for the rest to become curious about whats going down in CG. I'd pick Joe and MC over Freeze and Coach Ben Aigamua (TE coach). Joe's been in the league and is known as a Samoan OG. Lol.
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Yeah I was really high on Joe because of his ability to bridge the gap. Even if it’s just 2 guys a year…stack those Samoan chips and you got yourself a unique roster mix.

I do get the concerns when it comes to overall DL recruiting though. But if you can pair him with another guy (last year seemed like it was going Brian Williams before Maryland promoted him to DC) to take lead for some guys then you may have a perfect marriage.

Seems like Wright was an okay pairing but JT could be that elite piece to take things to the next level.
 
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Samoan Souljah said:
We dont have an L&L in Am Samoa. Although, there are a ton of mom and pops that cook like L&L. It used to be 2 mcds. But the other one in Pago Pago closed down.
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There was a L & L in Pago Pago back in 2010. I remember it was one of the only places open after the tsunami (I was in Am Samoa doing disaster relief). Looks like it closed down not long after though.
 
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