At an imposing 6 foot 3 and 291 pounds, Mauna Palama-Danielson is a shining diamond in the rough unnoticed under a bigger haystack.
At an imposing 6 foot 3 and 291 pounds, Mauna Palama-Danielson is a shining diamond in the rough unnoticed under a bigger haystack.
The Waiakea senior defensive lineman was bypassed when it came time for All-Big Island Interscholastic Federation football recognition, not making the first team, second team or honorable mention, which requires a single vote from a league coach.
But that didn’t stop him in his pursuit to play college ball. He gathered information, sent out video and was rewarded — signing a nearly full-ride scholarship with Dakota State, an NAIA school in South Dakota that finished 1-10 last season.
“I’m pretty excited. I couldn’t believe it, actually. It just happened,” said Palama-Danielson, who also competes in discus and shot put for Waiakea’s track and field team.
“I just pushed through. As long as you believe in yourself and try, you can do it. My parents have always told me, ‘Don’t hold back and commit yourself.’ That’s what I did.”
Palama-Danielson got his size from his parents. His dad, Queeny, is 6-3, and his mom, Moki, is 6-2. She was a big help in the recruiting process, looking at all the requirements for college eligibility on the different levels and setting up an online profile of her son.
“We attended a college scholarship seminar at Waiakea,” said Moki, who owns Q&M, an auto body shop on Leilani Street. “That opened our eyes. It was, ‘Wow, we started late.’ That was in April 2011.”
The family relied on video from Thane Milhoan’s website, sportzviz.com, to send to colleges. Peru State, a community college in Nebraska, also made a scholarship offer. Junior colleges in California and Oregon also showed interest.
Palama-Danielson, who has a 2.8 grade point average, plans to major in computer science. He’d like to be a computer programmer or software designer. His interests also include music. He’s proficient in many stringed instruments.
“He’s musically inclined and can play the ukulele, guitar, bass and drums. He’s got a whole set of instruments in his room,” Moki said. “He has a band with his high school friends, and they play at parties and school assemblies. I’m not sure what their band’s name is because they’ve changed it so many times.
“It all started at Keaukaha Elementary in the second grade. He joined the ukulele band. When he was in the seventh and eighth grade, he would go back and help tutor the kids.”
Like most linemen, Palama-Danielson couldn’t play Pop Warner because of his weight. His brother, Tua, a 5-0, 130-pound first grader, plays baseball and basketball and will look into the Hawaii Football Club, which has no weight restrictions. His sister, Moani, is in eighth grade and plays volleyball.
But when Palama-Danielson got on the football field as a freshman at Waiakea, his analytical thinking, from his computer background, took over. That turned out to be a good thing.
“Because he’s a smart kid, he tends to try and process and thinks analytically a lot,” Waiakea assistant Patrick Chong said. “That helped us as coaches because he questions what his assignments are, what he is supposed to be doing on a given play, and more so, just wanting to know how to get better.