Larry Tuileta, who guided the Punahou Buffanblu to three ILH titles, a state title and three appearances in the state final from 2011 to 2013, has given up football to focus on volleyball at Southern California.
A USC official confirmed Friday that Tuileta is only listed on the 2016 USC men’s volleyball roster.
As quarterback of the Buffanblu, Tuileta went 29-5 as a starter and threw for 6,962 yards and 77 touchdowns, ranking fourth all-time in career passing. Of the 10 quarterbacks to throw for more than 6,000 yards in a career, Tuileta has the fewest interceptions with 19.
Tuileta served as a reserve walk-on quarterback last season with the Trojans football team and didn’t join the USC men’s volleyball team until January. He ended up as a part-time starting outside hitter by the end of the season and appeared in 26 matches with 12 starts. He finished third on the team with 173 kills while hitting .272. He also had 118 digs, 20 blocks and seven aces and was named to the MPSF All-Freshman team.
After losing to Kahuku twice in the state final as a sophomore and junior, Tuileta redeemed himself in his final high school football game, beating Mililani 28-22. He was 16-for-29 for 265 yards and three first-half touchdowns that allowed the Buffanblu to race out to a 21-0 lead.
Tuileta holds four of the ten best single-game passing marks in school history, including a career-high 430 yards in the state tournament against Farrington as a senior. Tuileta and Cayman Shutter are the only Punahou quarterbacks with multiple 400-yard passing games in a career.
USC opens its 2016 season on Jan. 7 playing in a tournament hosted by Penn State. The Trojans host Hawaii this year and aren’t scheduled to play at the Stan Sheriff Center until 2017, when Tuileta will be a junior.
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