ST. PETERSBURG — Jon Halapio knew he had given it his all. After earning the best lineman award at the Nike Training Camp in Gainesville earlier this year, he headed back to his vehicle. On the way there, he began to cramp up, but the pain he endured was well worth it, after the performance he had given.
“I was determined to get the most out of [the camp],” said Halapio, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior guard, whose performance helped earn a scholarship offer from the University of Florida. “I wanted to leave it all on the field and I did just that.”
When Halapio got the offer from the Gators, he didn’t waste time. He committed, capping a whirlwind eight months that has seen the 17-year-old California native of Tongan descent burst on the college football recruiting scene. It has been quite a journey for this product of St. Petersburg Catholic.
This past spring, the University of Florida invited Halapio to its Junior Day and he came away from the experience impressed.
“That was the first time that I had heard from them,” Halapio said. “When I got to Gainesville, I just fell in love with the campus, atmosphere and the coaches.”
A stellar performance at the Nike Combine in Orlando led to an invite to the NTC Camp, which put him even higher on Florida’s list. Florida was definitely interested in him and he was definitely interested in the Gators. When he got the offer to be a Gator he committed.
Halapio, who will play guard at Florida, has gotten where he is today by doing the right things on and off the field. On the field he is a tireless worker. Off the field, he trains hard. In early August at SPC’s preseason camp, he bench pressed 355 pounds, 200 more than he did as a freshman. Couple that with a 40-yard dash time of 5.1 seconds and a vertical jump of 26-1/2 inches and you start to understand why he got Florida’s attention.
“He’s very lean and is a kid who’s worked very hard on his strength and conditioning,” St. Pete Catholic offensive line coach Matt Parker said. “He’s really progressed through hard work.”
Family is something very important to Halapio, who lived in Hawaii before moving to St. Petersburg while in elementary school. This summer, Halapio, the oldest of five children, had the opportunity to take his first trip to Tonga, birthplace of his parents Elvis and Peau. While in Tonga he met relatives he didn’t even know he had.
“I just love being around my them,” he said. “I have lots of cousins … it is a great thing and I enjoy it a lot.”
The trip to Tonga wasn’t without a few other tangible benefits. Due to the difference in food between Tonga compared and the United States, he lost 15 pounds. When he got back on the field at SPC, coaches not only noticed the weight loss but they also noticed a couple of other things.
“He’s leaner and quicker than ever before,” said SPC Coach Tod Creneti, who has coached Halapio for 1-1/2 years. “He’s very fit … he lost some weight [he’s since gained five of the 15 pounds back], but his bench, squat, 40 and vertical jump all improved.
“He’s a physically-gifted athlete with a solid foundation to build upon at the next level.”
Family played a large role in Halapio’s final decision. St. Pete Catholic head coach Tod Creneti said that Halapio’s strong family ties and the proximity of Gainesville played a key role in his choosing Florida.
“He’s close enough to where he can still have an influence on his [two] brothers and [two] sisters,” Creneti said. “That really means a lot to him.”
Creneti recalls that first time he ever met Halapio. It was at a team meeting in the weight room at SPC and Creneti’s first thought was that Halapio was an assistant coach from the previous staff. When the team dispersed, Creneti asked his assistant coaches where was Halapio.
It was only then that he knew the big guy was just a 15-year-old who was a returning starter on the offensive line.
A smile quickly came to the face of Creneti
“We knew that we had something special,” said Creneti, previously the head coach at Melbourne Central Catholic.
Since that first meeting Halapio has proven himself in every possible way. He’s an outstanding football player but he’s also someone that has earned the trust and respect of his head coach.
“He’s really came into his own,” said Creneti. “He’s the whole package and we’re just as proud of him for the type of young man he is, as we are of him as a football player. He’s a kid that I would give the keys to my house to. He’s a coach’s dream and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
When the Florida Gators offered a scholarship to Halapio, he went straight to his coaches to share the moment. The way he went about it made his coaches even more proud of their young protege.
“He said ‘thank you’ [to the SPC coaches],” Parker said. “He’s a very humble young man. He’s a yes-sir, no-sir type and is just a great person to be around.”
Parker feels the sky is the limit for Halapio, whose 17th birthday was just this summer.
“I project him to be 330 (pounds) and strong,” he said. “He’s got unlimited potential.”
Halapio first started thinking about the possibility of earning a Division I football scholarship during his sophomore year. He was making steady progress but it was during his junior year that colleges started taking notice.
Florida International was his first offer. Tory, UCF and Colorado State followed, but South Florida was his early favorite, prior to his first trip to UF. When the Gators offered, he knew he had found what he was looking for.
Now that his college choice has been made, Halapio has designs on graduating from SPC in December so he can enroll at Florida in January and participate in spring football practice.
“I’m super excited and can’t wait to get to Florida,” said Halapio, who carries a 3.1 grade-point average and plans to major in business management. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’m very determined.”