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Like a lot of prospects with a Polynesian background, Rainier Beach OL Leo Pili-Vaka is a man of few words. He prefers to let his play on the field do the talking and over the past two years, he’s been about as impressive an athlete as we at Northwest Elite Index have seen.
The moment he walks on the field, the first thing you notice is that he’s bigger than pretty much anyone. At 6’9″, 355 pounds, Pili-Vaka is a mountain of a man and when we saw him as a sophomore last spring, his feet appeared a bit heavy, but a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that he was still growing into his body and he’s dropped nearly 35 pounds from his top weight of about
390 pounds.
“He’s played a lot of basketball and he’s dropped 30/35 pounds,” Rainier Beach head coach Mark Haley told NEI at a recent event. “We’re hoping we can get him down another five to 10 pounds. That would be ideal, but even where he’s at right now, he’s improved a lot.”
Another reason he’s improved his footwork is because he’s played basketball all winter and into the spring.
“I played a lot of basketball this year and that’s helped a lot of my footwork and stuff,” Pili-Vaka said. “It’s been good for me for sure. I’ve also lifted a lot so I’m getting stronger too.”
As far as recruiting is concerned, Pili-Vaka has seen one offer come in and more could be getting close to offering after they see a bit more of him this spring and summer.
“I have an offer from Idaho right now,” Pili-Vaka said. “Oregon, Wisconsin, Nebraska, UCLA, Washington and Washington State all like me a lot, but they want to see more of me, probably at camps, so I’m looking at what I can make it out to so I can show what I can do.”
We will have more from Pili-Vaka in the coming weeks as he gets further along in the recruiting process.
(#79 Leo Pili Vaka 6-9 355 Jr. Rainier Beach)
