The Gators get a recruiting boost close to him from a player that has roots far far away. Offensive lineman Jon Halapio received an offer from the Florida Gators on Wednesday and called Head Coach Urban Meyer & offensive line coach Steve Addazio on Thursday to commit. For his mother, it was an early Mother’s Day present. The Tongan family cannot wait to be Gators.
Sunday is Mother’s Day and Fi Sii Peau Halapio may be the happiest mother in Florida. Her son is going to be able to play high level football and not very far away. The family will now be die hard Gators.
“It is a wonderful Mother’s Day present for myself,” Fi Sii Peau Halapio said. “It’s a blessing to us, a blessing and an honor to look and wan my son to attend their school. We are very grateful for the opportunity he is getting from urban Meyer. The whole entire family is now going to be Gator fans. They were all everything but now they are all going to be Gators.”
His family roots are from the island of Tonga and Meyer and company have had great success with Polynesian players in the past. The Gators got a great character kid off the field as well a an animal on the field.
“You couldn’t ask for a better oldest son,” he said. “He is the oldest of five. He is a great role model and humble child from day one. That isn’t just from me but from his teachers and my friends and his friends mothers. He is just a big teddy bear with an honorable heart. He is a very very good kid, I can’t ask for anything more.”
The process for Halapio actually started earlier than most realize. Jon was invited up for junior day back in January. He has remained being recruited ever since.
“They invited him up for junior day in January,” mom said. “We were up there for the scrimmage and for the Nike camp. We loved it the very first time we went there. We were surprised and shocked when they came to offer him. It took us a night to talk it over between us and make sure he made the right decision. We decided that evening. We agreed and then he called Coach Meyer that (next) evening when he came back from practice.”
It was a private conversation with Jon and the coaches at Florida.
“He went to the back yard,” she said. “Urban asked him if he wanted to be a Gator and John said, ‘yes sir, I want to be a Gator’.”
The pressure is off of mom and the rest of the family now. She knew her son had the ability to play at the highest level of football. She just wanted him not so far away to play that football.
“I knew he was going to go to a good college,” she said. “The only pressure part was going to be if he had to leave Florida. The possibility of him going to go to an out of state school was the most stressful thing. Close to home was the biggest reason for him choosing Florida. It is only two hours away, and we can come watch games and he can come home.
Jon Halapio had offers from FIU, Troy, USF, UCF, and Colorado. At a recent Nike camp in Gainesville he was awarded the best lineman at the camp. The word was getting out on him and more schools were coming harder after him. Coach Addazio went and watched him perform at spring practice this week and a decision was made to offer. The rest ended with a very Happy Mother’s Day for Fi Sii Peau Halapio.
Video highlights courtesy of Sunshine Preps:
http://64.237.99.126/clips/2009FL237JH.wmv