Vimahi, Tuitele commit to All-American Bowl

Kahuku offensive lineman Enokk Vimahi and Saint Louis defensive lineman Faatui Tuitele have been invited and are committed to playing in the All-American Bowl in January 2019.

The game used to be called the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but it is now being sponsored by American Family Insurance and run by an organization called All American Games.

The high school football all-star game will be held Jan. 5 in San Antonio, the site of the previous U.S. Army all-star games that began in 2000.

Vimahi’s father David Vimahi, a Kahuku tight ends coach, said Tuesday night that Enokk was invited to the All-American Bowl two weeks ago and to the Under Armour All-America Bowl, another all-star game, a week ago. The latter game is also scheduled in early January and players can only play in one of them.

“He’s most likely going to play in the San Antonio game,” David Vimahi said. “He committed to that. They came and approached him before Under Armour came, and his heart was already set on the (San Antonio) All-American Bowl.”

In January 2018, Enokk Vimahi went to the San Antonio All-American combine and made the all-combine team along with Saint Louis receiver Matt Sykes, who will be a junior this fall.

Recently, Vimahi attended the Bay Area Nike Opening and is one of only about 120 to 150 players from around the country — along with Tuitele — who have been invited to the Nike Opening final this summer at the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility. This will be the first Nike Opening final that will not be held at the University of Oregon.

Vimahi has 23 offers from big-name schools. His father said he will probably whittle that number down to five or 10 in the summer.

“We have all the offers on a big white board,” David Vimahi said. “Enokk is going to do his due diligence and check boxes that apply — business finance (his preferred choice of study), the football program itself, the coaching staff, and ability to connect with his position coach. We’ll do research meticulously and come up with a list. Spring ball is going to start, and in May, college coaches are able to come and talk to them. So at the end of summer, probably, he’ll have a list of his top schools. He’s going to listen to each one of the coaches and not jump to any conclusions.”