Hilo senior Lukas Kuipers wasn’t born fast, and his 4.091 grade-point average didn’t come by accident either.
The 6-foot, 180-pound wide receiver worked hard to turn himself into a model student-athlete on display at the Life Champions Senior Bowl.
The 3rd annual edition of the goodwill game and scouting showcase will be played at Kauai’s Vidinha Stadium, after two years at Kamehameha’s Paie’a Stadium in Keaau.
About 20 coaches from small schools (Division II and III, NAIA and junior college) will be in attendance. FBS/FCS or Division I and I-AA programs are not allowed to attend per NCAA rules but are permitted to watch the broadcast by scoringlive.com.
On the gridiron, Kuipers was last timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, helped by his development in track.
As a freshman and sophomore, he didn’t come close to BIIF gold in the 100 and 200 meters. But last season, he won both events.
Even better, Kuipers placed sixth and third in the 100 and 200, respectively, at the HHSAA state track and field championships.
“I improved because of my training, strength and conditioning,” said Kuipers, who hits the books in the same manner. “With grades, it’s about not giving up when things get tough in class.”
The Kuipers family moved from Wisconsin when he was in the third grade. His parents, Kurt and Gaik, are food scientists.
His older brother Johan is a teacher in Japan, and sister Anja is in college in Vermont but also applied to William and Mary.
Because of his sister, Kuipers is interested in playing football and running track for the Tribe, a Division I school in Virginia.
But a former local boy and Division III assistant coach is making a hard push to steer him to Lewis & Clark in Portland, Ore.
“Coming into the camp, we identified him as our top recruit,” said Isaac Parker, a 1998 Kamehameha graduate, who has family history at Parker Ranch. “First of all, we look at the GPA. We’re a private school and competitive academically, so you can fall in love with a kid on the football field, but they have to get in on their own accord.”
Kuipers fits the profile because he scored a 1,470 out of 1,600 on the SAT, important because high GPAs don’t always equal stellar test scores.
Then, Parker scouted Kuipers on film and liked what he saw, especially his red-zone (20 yards and in) pass-catching skills.
“He has the ability to hunt the football down,” Parker said. “His ball skills are good. He can make cuts in the red zone and tough catches in coverage. That’s invaluable.”
The Pioneers finished the season 0-9, including 0-7 in the Northwest Conference, which Linfield won and where popular Pacific University also resides.
They could use someone like Kuipers, who had 35 catches for 460 yards and four touchdowns and comes from a winning tradition. The Vikings won the last four BIIF Division I titles.
“Lukas’ work ethic in the classroom and the football field in the offseason is tremendous,” Hilo coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “For us, Lukas was a plus mismatch in basically every game that we played. He demanded attention from the defense, and it definitely opened up other aspects of our offense.
“He’s just a great all-around kid and great all-around student-athlete. It was a joy working with him in the offseason and having the opportunity to coach him. He’s the type of athlete who enjoys the preparation as much as the end result. And that’s what allows him to be successful.”
Last season, Parker scouted the Senior Bowl and signed Iolani linebacker Melvin Ho’omanawanui and Nanakuli corner Randy Manewa.
The work-related road trip gave Parker a chance to take a few coaching colleagues to Parker Ranch, where his grandmother is on the family tree in Waimea.
Like his fellow coaching colleagues, they’re enjoying their time on the Garden Isle, where schools turn into competitors going after the same targets.
Next to academic and athletic achievements, character plays a vital role in the recruiting process as well.
It helps that Parker is doing his homework with Senior Bowl founder Keala Pule and his wife Celeste, the cultural director.
“The Pules have vouched for his character, and he’s checking all the boxes,” Parker said. “At practice, he works hard, and he’s humble. Everything seems to fit that’s he a great kid.”
Other BIIF players in Senior Bowl
Ka’aina Lewis, Wela Mamone, Chandler Keli’i (Hilo);Wayne Dacalio, Nainoa Rosehill, Makana Manoa, Joseph Hooper (Kamehameha); Kamakana Ching, Viliami Kaea (Konawaena); Randy Hatori (Kealakehe); Dane Francis (Hawaii Prep)
