Four-star Hawaiian lineman Preston Taumua commits to Nebraska

Some of Nebraska’s best offensive linemen of the 1990s and 2000s came from Hawaii.
On early Monday morning - still Sunday evening in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - the Huskers reopened the Hawaiian line pipeline with the commit of four-star tackle Preston Taumua.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pounder, who played at Aiea High School until transferring to Waipahu this summer, had a prestigious list of scholarship offers from schools like Oregon, Auburn, Utah and Alabama but ultimately picked NU on a 247Sports broadcast that started at 1 a.m. Monday in eastern Nebraska.
BREAKING: 4⭐️ IOL Preston Taumua, the Class of 2024's No. 1 player in Hawaii, has committed to Nebraska 🌽
Taumua chose the Cornhuskers over Alabama, Oregon, Arizona and Auburn 🏈
MORE: https://t.co/4Hxd864ooT pic.twitter.com/F3kcePM7b5
— 247Sports (@247Sports) July 17, 2023
A consensus four-star prospect ranked as high as the No. 178 player in the nation by ESPN, Taumua becomes the 24th overall commit in NU’s 2024 class. He’s the fourth offensive lineman in the class, joining Landen Davidson, Jake Peters and Gibson Pyle.
Taumua is also the top-rated 2024 prospect in Hawaii, which routinely produced stars for the Huskers 25 years ago, including All-Americans Dominic Raiola and Toniu Fonoti.
Raiola’s younger brother, Donovan, is NU’s offensive line coach. In the offseason, Donovan added Arizona State transfer Ben Scott, who also played high school football in Hawaii.
"Coach Raiola, he basically knows how we live out here," Taumua said on 247 Sports' YouTube channel. "...I just see myself with Coach Raiola and the way he teaches. Basically how he runs his football practices."
Taumua said NU coach Matt Rhule is a "down-to-earth guy" who "treated me like family."
Nebraska won out over Oregon, Taumua said, because the program is rebuilding, and "I've been a part of a rebuilding program my whole life."