Temecula’s athletes declare colleges, sign on for education
At Temecula's Prodigy Athletes, six accomplished area athletes signed letters of intent to play for the universities of their choosing.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
On Wednesday, thousands of young athletes across the country formally declared their intention for a college sports program.
At Temecula’s Prodigy Athletes, six accomplished area athletes signed letters of intent to play for the universities of their choosing.
Troy Lau, the owner and innovative mind behind Prodigy Athletes — a sports conditioning club that develops and advocates for area athletes, takes great pride in readying his players for this opportunity and the way they rose to the challenges that faced them.
Among the players to sign letters of intent was Christian “Bubba” Poueu-Luna of Great Oak High School. Luna, who will attend the University of Hawaii, boasts 32 touchdowns in 15 varsity games, threw for over 1700 passing yards and rushed for 754 yards during his senior year.
Anthony “Chief” Goodwin, who had 28 carries, seven touchdowns, and averaged 7.2 yards a carry in his five senior games with Great Oak High School, will sign with Upper Iowa.
“(We love ) his physical style of play and great effort. As a person, he is a fun loving kid with a desire to be the best at what he does. Chief is a highly motivated individual,” said Upper Iowa coach Patrick Morris.
Temecula Valley High School’s Ben Thompson will sign with the San Jose State Spartans. Ben was an offensive MVP in 2008 and 2009, second team All Valley and first team All League for 2009. His academic accomplishments are just as impressive — National Scholastic Honor Society Member, California Scholarship Foundation member and Scholar Athlete for 2008-2009.
Upper Iowa coaches pursued Jake Lee Bass for his “great size.” Bass lettered in three sports – football, wrestling and track and is a three-year AVID student with an SAT score of 1320.
John Hardy-Tuliau carried a 4.0 GPA since middle school; his high school stats boast 18 interceptions, 140 tackles, 26 blocked punts, 10 touchdowns and 38 career starts. Hardy-Tuliau will sign with University of Hawaii.
Finally, Siaki Cravens, a four-year honor roll student, will join the University of Hawaii as an outside linebacker. Cravens, who signed with the University of Utah out of high school and played for the 2009 BCS Sugar Bowl championship team, credits his father Kevin Cravens, along with Prodigy as a being a big part of his success.
“I’ve been with Prodigy since its beginning,” Cravens said. “They’ve been real helpful. They came along and gave me the help I needed.”
Cravens’ mother, Crystal Cravens, said her son’s hard work and discipline have paid off.
“He’s very dedicated. He’s been training since he was 6 years old. He (worked out) on prom night and graduation,” she said, noting that she and her husband are working just as hard to prepare each of their five children for a college education.
Wednesday’s declarations are a dream come true for any athlete — each of the young stars was aggressively recruited by numerous programs. The road that brought them to this moment wasn’t easy; reaching this day meant hours of hard work and training.
“Prodigy Athletes began as a movement to get kids into the classroom,” said Lau. “It is a mentorship program designed to help kids see what opportunities lay ahead of them.”
Those opportunities include, not just advancement on the football or soccer fields, but in the classroom as well.
“When I send a coach a name, I don’t have to worry. I know that my athletes have a strong work ethic, strong academics, they know how to get their business done,” Lau said.
To learn more, visit www.prodigyathletes.com.
Kerri S. Mabee can be reached at ksmabee.swrnn@gmail.com with comments or questions. Follow me on Twitter at SWRNNaelife.
Tags: Anthony "Chief" Goodwin, BCS Sugar Bowl, Ben Thompson, Christian "Bubba" Poueu-Luna, Crystal Cravens, great oak high school, Jake Lee Bass, John Hardy-Tuliau, Kerri S. Mabee, Kevin Cravens, Prodigy Athletes, San Jose State University, Siaki Cravens, SWRNN, Temecula, temecula valley high school, Troy Lau, university of hawaii, University of Utah, Upper Iowa, Upper Iowa coach Patrick Morris
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Comment by: Keoni Posted: February 22, 2010, 12:38 am
Christian, John and Siaki, welcome to the Hawaii Warrior Nation.