Hawaii may not be the first state that comes to mind as a potential recruiting gold mine for Wisconsin. Or any Big Ten school, for that matter.
“Honestly, at first I was like, yeah there’s no way. I didn’t even know where Wisconsin was,” said outside linebacker Nick Herbig, who hails from Hawaii and was recently named to the Bednarik Award Watch List.
“A good friend of mine told me I should just take a visit. I just checked it out and ended up falling in love.”
This offseason, former Utah safety and Hawaii native Kamo’i Latu entered the transfer portal. Latu saw action in nine games in 2021, including a 10-tackle, one-pass defense performance against USC that earned him PAC-12 defensive freshman of the week honors. A fellow Saint Louis High School grad, Latu spoke to Herbig almost every day while at Utah.
“(Herbig) knew I entered the transfer portal, and he called me saying, 'hey man, my coaches wanna talk to you about coming here,’” Latu said.
The safety took a visit in the spring, and soon made his commitment official. Latu’s transfer came at a great time for a depleted Wisconsin safety room that saw expected starter Travion Blaylock tear his ACL in spring ball.
Herbig and Latu are currently the only players on Wisconsin’s roster from the Aloha State, but they won’t be for long. Trech Kekahuna, a fast, twitchy wide receiver commit in the 2023 class, will be the next Hawaii product to head to Madison.
Kekahuna earned his offer after impressing coaches at a camp in the spring, fulfilling Herbig’s bet with outside linebackers coach Bobby April that Kekauna would receive an offer from UW before season’s end. In the 2024 class, UW has already offered defensive end Anelu Lafaele from Honolulu.
“The island boys come to compete and show who’s the best,” the receiver said.
That sense of pride rings true for every ‘island boy’ in the program.
“Being from Hawaii, I play with a lot of pride, a lot of honor. I play with a lot of heart,” said Herbig, who has the Saint Louis High School logo tattooed on his forearm. “I believe that Hawaii has some of the best athletes ever. A lot of it goes unnoticed because we’re just some boys on islands, but I’m glad they’re getting the recognition now.”
Herbig could be seen as the first domino to fall for Wisconsin’s recent success in Hawaii. In many ways, he was instrumental in Latu’s recruitment.
What’s the main thing that brought the safety to Madison?
“No. 19. Nick Herbig. He’s my best friend,” Latu said. “We’re both from Hawaii. This is far from Hawaii. I told myself, if Nick can do it out here, it shouldn’t be that bad out here. And it’s not. I love it out here in Wisconsin, I love the culture, I love the people.”
Herbig and Latu have taken an immediate liking to Madison, despite the 4,000-plus mile difference. Herbig says he only goes back to Hawaii once a year, after bowl season over winter break. It’s safe to say he still has plenty of ‘island boy’ in him, though.
“I like wearing hoodies and sweatpants, putting on shoes. It’s kinda cool to me, honestly,” the linebacker said when asked about adjusting to life in Madison.
Once the 2022 season finally kicks off, Herbig will be hunting down quarterbacks in the backfield as the headliner of the defense and preeminent pass-rusher. Latu hasn’t had much time to acclimate, but should still see plenty of action this fall, rotating in with John Torchio and Hunter Wohler. Kekahuna will join the Badgers as part of their 2023 class and will walk into a receiver room that might return their top five or six players from this season.
It remains to be seen whether Wisconsin can keep plucking players from Hawaii, but there may be something in Herbig’s initial recruiting pitch to Latu:
“We had a call, and I told him what it was," Herbig said. "This is Big Ten football. This is huge.”
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