BOULDER — If ever there was a perfect example of how football recruiting is an inexact endeavor, freshman Colorado lineman Kai Maiava could be Exhibit A.
There are always hits, misses and surprises in recruiting.
Ryan Miller, a 6-foot-7, 320-pound tackle, was the given for CU. He earned consensus high school All-America honors last fall at Columbine and was listed on every national top-100 list. The five-star tackle turned down Notre Dame and Southern Cal, becoming the plum of coach Dan Hawkins’ second recruiting class. He’s already starting on the offensive line.
Maiava? Don’t bother to look down any past blue-chip lists. You won’t find him.
Squatty for his position, the 6-foot, 295-pound guard from Maui, Hawaii, received only a two-star rating from Internet recruiting sites. He was set to pick New Mexico State over Idaho and Idaho State until Colorado called during the night before national signing day in February. After Garth Gerhart, a three-star lineman from Norco, Calif., backed out of his oral commitment to the Buffaloes at the last second for Arizona State, CU gave Maiava a call.
Rated the lowest among the eight offensive linemen signed last winter by Hawkins, Maiava became the first to start.
“That’s interesting, isn’t it?” CU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said. “Those two guys get things done in different ways. If you look at them, you’ve got two totally different ends of the spectrum – in body type and the way that they move. Kai is a short, powerful, really quick guy. Ryan is a big, long strider with good feet.
“They bring a certain element of toughness and aggression. And they’ve got physical skills. They just needed a chance to get in there. They’re doing great.”
Maiava made his first start in the upset victory over Oklahoma. Miller earned his first start two games later, last weekend in the loss at Kansas State. CU is redshirting its other six true freshman offensive linemen.
“Me and Ryan are getting there,” Maiava said. “We always tease each other about who is going to be the best. We’re just trying to make each other better.”
Miller said: “I love that guy. He plays with heart. He’s a ‘Hawaiian fury.”‘
Both figure to get a stern test Saturday against No. 15 Kansas, which ranks fourth nationally in defense, in part because of a weak nonconference schedule.
As for Maiava becoming a starter first, Grimes said it helped that he played on a high school team that threw the ball. At run-oriented Columbine, Miller rarely pass blocked.
“That’s been a huge adjustment for Ryan,” Grimes said of pass-protection fundamentals. “In August, we felt it might be midseason before he would be ready to start, and that’s what happened.”
Learning to pass block has been a challenge, Miller acknowledged.
“Run blocking is always moving forward, and that’s what I’ve grown up doing,” he explained. “In pass blocking, you have to move backward and laterally, and still keep your balance. Adjusting to that has had its days.”
Maiava always wanted to play for Colorado and was disappointed when the Buffs didn’t offer him a scholarship early in the recruiting process. His father, Scott Mahoney, lettered three times at CU on the offensive line under Eddie Crowder (1969-71). Mahoney had been adopted as a child and didn’t learn until adulthood that he was a Maiava. The name has strong bloodlines.
Kai’s grandfather, “Prince” Neff Maiava, became a world-renowned professional wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s. Kai has an older brother, Kaluka, who plays linebacker at Southern Cal. An uncle, Dwayne Johnson, played football at Miami (Fla.) and is better known as “The Rock,” the wrestler turned actor.
Maiava has more of a wrestler’s build, but he has used it to his advantage.
“When we played Oklahoma, their defensive linemen were about 6-4. I was getting underneath them, and that was really bugging them. I wish I was 6-4, 6-5. But I don’t care anymore. I know I can play at this level.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
