Dream day arrives for Epenesa

It’s been quite a month for A.J. Epenesa.

Exhausting for sure, but he wouldn’t trade any of the experiences he’s had during the past month. All of that will culminate on Wednesday morning, the first day of a new month, when he fulfills a lifelong dream of being able to officially say he’s an Iowa Hawkeye.

Before we get to the day where dreams become reality, let’s check a few boxes off of what Epenesa has accomplished in the past month.

He scored his 1,000th point as a member of the Edwardsville basketball team.

He played in the U.S. Army All-American game.

He played in the Polynesian All American game in Hawaii, earning defensive MVP honors, and yes, learned to do the Haka for the first time.

Earned five star status from Rivals.com, making him a unanimous five star prospect in the Class of 2017.

Made his official visit to Iowa.

That’s a full month and on Wednesday morning he starts a new one surrounded by family and friends signing with the Hawkeyes.

The now five star defensive end prospect started the month by scoring his 1,000 point and then took off for San Antonio to begin practices for the U.S. Army All American game. Since the end of the high school football season, Epenesa has been focused on basketball, so on the first day of practice, there was certainly a learning curve.

Add in the fact that the 6-foot-5 and 270 pound defensive lineman hadn’t put on a helmet in a while and he took a few lumps early and then quickly started dishing out some of his own the rest of the week.

“It was a great experience to be able to go to San Antonio and go up against guys that were that talented and compete against them,” Epenesa said. “I really haven’t been to a lot of camps and combine type stuff, so this was really my first time going up against the big time talent. It was fun and I really enjoyed it.”

The Army game also allowed Epenesa to spend time with fellow future Hawkeye Tristian Wirfs, who will also be signing on Wednesday. Since he was never went to many national camps during his high school career, Epenesa hasn’t developed the national friendships that many of the top prospects do. The Army game allowed him to start building relationships with several of those players.

“It was cool meeting a lot of the guys who played in the game. I was able to get to know some of those guys and start developing a friendship with them. I did get a little talk from some of the SEC guys, especially the Florida guys, after the bowl game, but it was cool. Some of the Michigan guys tried to give me a hard time too.”

From there, he was off to Hawaii to play in the Polynesian All American game. It was chance for Epenesa to not only represent the Midwest and Iowa, but he was also able to connect with his roots as a proud Samoan.

“It was a long flight, but other than that it was fun to play with and against other Polynesian kids. The only other time I’ve had that type of experience was at the All Poly Camp in Salt Lake City,” he said. “I am from the Midwest and live in Illinois and it was a super cool experience to go to Hawaii and learn more about my roots as a Samoan and what that represents. It was great to be able to play in that bowl game.”

At the game, Epenesa was named Defensive MVP, finishing with 5 tackles, and a pair of sacks and fumble recoveries. He proved that he belonged in the game and could measure up with the rest of the competition.

“Going over there and being half Samoan and going against a lot of other players who were full Samoan, I wanted to prove that half Samoans could play football too. I also wanted to represent the Midwest because almost all of those guys at the game were from the west coast.”

He also gave credit to the traditional Haka dance for his outstanding play. The Haka is a dance performed before going into battle and has been made famous in sports by the All Blacks Rugby team in New Zealand. The players in the game learned the dance and performed it before the start of the All American game.

“It was my first experience doing it and I have never been so pumped up in my life,” Epenesa said. “It really gets the blood flowing seeing all the guys around you screaming and getting into it. That’s probably why I played so well in that game because I was so ready to go out there and hit somebody.”

One of the books that the Iowa players read before last season was about the All Blacks rugby team and the keys to their success. With that in mind, could the Haka be coming to Iowa City with Epenesa and would he teach it to his teammates?

“Oh man, I would for sure. If I get the ok by the coaches to take the field and do the Haka, it would be awesome.”

This past weekend, the future Hawkeye made his way to his future home in Iowa City to wrap up an exceptionally busy month with a relaxing official visit. He was joined by the majority of the 2017 signees on the visit and he was able to bond with some of his future teammates already on campus.

"It was awesome," he said. "I have been there a lot over the years and every time Iowa City treats us great. I was with some of the players and they are always welcoming and bring me in like I am a member of their family. I am super excited to be a Hawkeye."

The all-star games and the travel has now come to an end. Now it’s back to focusing on basketball, where Epenesa believes his Edwardsville team has a shot at winning a state title. Then it’s on to track, where he says they will win a state title, led by his own potential championship efforts in the shot put and discus.

First, there’s Wednesday. It’s signing day. It’s the official end of the recruiting journey that really had only one outcome. While he held offers from nearly every program in the country, his heart has been and always will be with the Hawkeyes.

He will be surrouned by family and friends filled with pride as he puts pen to paper and fulfills the biggest dream of his young life.

“I don’t know how to really describe it quite yet having not experienced it yet, but it’s a dream come true,” he said. “Once I sign that paper it’s a dream come true and I will officially be an Iowa Hawkeye. Ever since I was little it was always, I want to play for Iowa, All I wanted to do was play for Iowa. You can ask anyone. My parents, my friends, my teachers, anyone, it has always been Iowa and the NFL, and now it here. Iowa has always been a bigger dream for me than the NFL and now Iowa is here. It’s just a huge honor for me and I am very excited to be a Hawkeye.”