Think about this: it wasn’t out of the blue that McKenzie Milton decided to commit to the University of Central Florida.
He will be playing for Scott Frost, the new head coach for the Knights who spent the last three seasons as the Oregon offensive coordinator. Makes a lot more sense now. Frost will be installing the Oregon style of spread offense at UCF. He worked with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, who is now with the Tennessee Titans and graduated from Saint Louis.
“He said I would fit into the offense really well,” Milton said. “I just really love the coaching staff and the campus.”
Milton was the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s offensive player of the year in 2014, when he led Mililani to the state Division I championship. He was hurt as a senior, but helped the Trojans make the state semifinals.
Milton has five scholarship offers, from UCF, Army, Navy, Air Force and Hawaii. He was also getting recruited by Oregon and by Boise State. Milton said most schools backed off with their recruiting intensity when he first made his oral commitment to Hawaii as a junior. He added that he continued to hear seriously from the Naval Academy and UCF.
“He was recruiting me at Oregon,” Milton said about Frost. “When he got the UCF job, he continued to recruit me. So that’s how that came about.”
The Knights went 0-12 in 2015.
“I started working out last month,” said Milton, who is 6 feet, 170 pounds. “Weight training and working on getting bigger. They want me to get bigger. I’m running a mile or two on the treadmill every day.”
Milton is considering majoring in sports medicine.
“He (Frost) talked about getting me into coaching as a graduate assistant,” he said. “I would be interested in doing that after graduating. That is another reason why I was drawn to UCF.”
Frost played quarterback at Stanford and Nebraska in the 1990s and spent six years in the NFL with the New York Jets, Cleveland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay.
As a three-year starter for the Trojans, Milton passed for 7,303 yards and 81 touchdowns and rushed for 1,810 yards and 18 TDs in 34 games.
Outstanding Milton,..you got smarts and to play under the coaching of Scott Frost is professionally outstanding and you not only got the smarts but even wise to look to the future;…follow your priorities and make your family and fans proud of you;…you’re one shaka
quarterback that always listening to how to get better then your best.
Good luck, stay safe, and stay humble to yourself and all your senior.
Best of luck McKenzie! Do Hawaii proud! Sad to see you hurt all year and it seemed you came back not fully healed but that seems to be what Hawait is about….helping your team….get healthy and do your thing at UCF…Hawaii will be rooting for you just like we always do for our boys.
Glad he got that offer @UCF to represent Mililani alumni.
Some of my friends I grew up with: Konti Pellegrin from Punahou to Stanford, Sa’a Foster from Puns to Azusa Pacific. Donny Utu from Puns to Utah. Brian Ching from Puns to Notre Dame. Kelley Bryant from St. Louis to Oregon State. Darnell Arceneaux from St. Louis to Utah, Mark Moody from Kamehameha to Air Force, Nephi Shurtleff from Mililani to Lindenwood College, Ikaika Malloy Kamehameha to UW, Olin Kreutz St. Louis to UW.
Just my Pop warner team alone had Eli and Afa Thompson, Jason Scanlan, Olin Kreutz, Dominic Raiola, Tyler and Ryan Hoke, Brandon Matchen, Keola and Kekoa Willing, and DJ Cabrera.
80% played D1 on scholarship. All of ’em except Afatia graduated from St.Louis.
So was Oregon recruiting McKenzie Milton? I thought he was Pac-12 all the way. USC wants their QB’s to be 6′-5″, but I thought WSU, Arizona or Oregon St would offer him. I was surprised his best offers were from UH and the service academies. You people should have seen him against Punahou in the state championship game hs sophomore and junior years. Deadly accurate passer and cat quick scrmabler. I don’t believe this BS that schools backed off once he verballed to UH. I still think Florida is too far away for a young man first time away from home.
Mahatma, not everyone is afraid to leave home. Some realize that a plane ride whether 6 hours or 9 hours, you’re still across the pacific ocean. Have to do what is best. There are plenty of athletes, girls and boys, who go to Florida, NY, CT, PA and all over the east coast and they are doing fine. The mentality that they are better off on the west coast is small minded.
So many kids from California flourish when they go to Florida to play sports. This isn’t the 50’s. Hawaii is not much farther. Imagine international kids that come to Hawaii on exchange program for schooling to the states and Hawaii. That is much farther than Hawaii-Florida.
@be thankful
First off, it’s not me saying Florida is too far away. It’s the players that tell me that by all the ones I see transferring from far away places to be closer to home. I take their word for it.
Secondly, “doing what’s best” for themselves. What’s best for local players if they want to make their home in Hawaii is to play big-time sports for UH. The positive name recognition you make by playing and starring in big-time sports for UH will do wonders for your career. So many ex UH football players now working as policemen, Halawa prison guard, firemen, stevedore….
Private sector too. Curt Watanabe, now in physical therapy. Got his own private practice in Pearl City. Starting 3rd baseman for UH baseball in their glory years of the late 1970s when they finished 2nd in the College World Series. Ask him what positive name recognition in the community has meant for his career.
Education First, name me one California player who “flourished” by going to Florida? Your analogy about international students is not valid. In other countries, having a degree from a highly respected USA college means everything back home. I don’t think McKenzie Milton is going to Central Florida for academics. he’s going because they run a type of offense he thinks he can succeed in.
The scholarship recipient should research everything exciting surrounding the college town and area before they go up. Is there a water park, ski area, golf driving range, one of those “Sonics” when you get da munchies? What about girlfriends and dates?
Gandhi am I not right? Gotta make college a fun experience!
Only Hawaii guy I know who braved it in Florida on D1 scholarship is Dominic’s dad Tony Raiola. Was all ACC @Miami for the Hurricanes.