When South Kitsap football player Josaiah Asuega talks about having a huge Samoan family, it isn’t hyperbole. Even estimating a number proved challenging for the rising senior.
“There’s people I don’t even know,” Asuega said. “I can’t even name them. I’ve never seen them.”
When it comes to college football recruiting, Wolves head football coach Sean Banks believes Asuega is a name that will become more well-known as the fall approaches. The 6-4, 290-pound offensive/defensive lineman has already picked up an offer from the University of Montana and has been described as an “intriguing late bloomer” by 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins.
Banks went so far as to call Asuega the most underrated player in the state.
“Best-kept secret, however you want to say it,” Banks said. “He is an absolute dream to coach.”
It’s not Asuega’s imposing size or measurables (80-inch wing span, 8-foot, 7-inch broad jump, 27-inch vertical, 5.1 seconds in the 40) that sets the player apart, Banks believes. Despite being a D-I prospect, Asuega is extremely humble, and respectful. Self-promotion isn’t part of his playbook.
“He’s not a ‘me’ guy,” Banks said. “He’s the guy on the team who could most be about himself, but he is so into his team, his family, other people’s success.”
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Sounds like a nice kid playing a sport where being nice generally isn’t a key ingredient. Don’t worry, Asuega has no problem flipping the switch in the trenches.
“He’s a big teddy bear off the field,” Banks said, “but he’s as violent as anybody on the field.”
One of the questions surrounding Asuega during his career has been where to play him. As a sophomore under former South Kitsap head coach Dan Ericson, Asuega saw time as a running back/fullback and linebacker. Last fall, he transitioned to tight end and defensive tackle, earning All-South Puget Sound League 4A honorable mention in the latter.
Heading into his senior season, Asuega is slated to return at defensive tackle, but is also lining up to play his third different offensive position in three years: left tackle.
“He’s an absolute natural at offensive tackle in my opinion,” said Banks, who noted that Montana is recruiting Asuega as both an offensive tackle and defensive tackle, but is particularly intrigued by his potential on the offensive side of the ball. “Hands, footwork, staying square, when to turn his shoulders, when not to.”
Asuega, who said he’s also been in contact with recruiters from Eastern Washington and Idaho, said playing at the next level — at any position — isn’t an idea he takes lightly, noting, “I would be first in family to play in college.”
Now that Asuega seems to have finally found where he belongs on the field, he’ll be the biggest name to watch on a South Kitsap team that finished 2-8 in 2023, but should return nine starters on offense and at least five starters on defense. The numbers are helpful, but Asuega said there’s more required in order for the Wolves to begin climbing the standings in Banks’ second year.
“We’ve got to be disciplined,” Asuega said. “We need to know our jobs.”
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: South Kitsap’s Asuega a ‘best-kept secret’ as a football recruit
Kitsap Sun
