While it was no coincidence that Cibolo, Tex. defensive lineman Julian Hugo visited Tempe the same weekend as his cousin and Copperas Cove, Tex. offensive lineman Marques Uini did. Earlier in the recruiting process, Hugo may have needed a bit of convincing by his cousin to give ASU a serious look. Ultimately, both 2026 prospects came away from the trip deeply impressed and Arizona State commits during the visit, with the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Hugo making his announcement public on Thursday morning.
“What led me to commit to Arizona State was definitely the team culture there,” Hugo stated. “The team culture there is unlike anywhere I've been before. It's really one of those places where you have to be there to feel it. Everybody truly believes in what the school does and how they work. That team faith and team confidence is definitely going to take the team far, and it showed last year in the playoffs.
“(ASU defensive line) Coach Diron Reynolds likes my motor, my physicality on the D-line, my hands, and my get-offs.”
In his junior season, Hugo posted 83 tackles, 21 of them for a loss, ten sacks and 30 QB hurries.
According to Hugo, current players such as Terrell Kim, Salesi Manu, Joey Su’a, and AJ Ia did a superb job hosting Hugo and immediately making him feel at home. Needless to say, the fact that all of his hosts were of Polynesian descent, like himself, only heightened his level of comfort during his trip.
“They told me the culture there is amazing,” Hugo recalled. “Ever since their last losing season, it was all up from there, and it’s just taken off now. They're on their way to becoming a powerhouse in the Big 12. Seeing so many Polynesian players around me, as well as my cousin Marques being there, really made me feel at home. Having a lot of Polynesian players on a team is huge because I know that they have the same standards set in them as I do, taught by our family and our culture. Polynesians are very faith and family orientated, and that's how I move. That's everything I'm about, and that's everything Arizona State has to offer.
“Before the visit, Marques and I didn’t talk that much about playing for the same college. We grew up with each other and are close, but when he was telling me about Arizona State, I was putting it off. I was like, ‘Alright, we'll see.’ But he was right, and it was really a nice place to go.”
Hugo, a top 50 Edge prospect in the 2026 class and Top 100 recruit in his state, is another testament to Arizona State's effectiveness in recruiting Polynesian players. He is the fourth Polynesian player to commit to the 2026 class, joining a team that currently has over a dozen players from that heritage on the roster.
Hugo has nearly 20 Power Four offers, mainly from the Big 12, with schools such as Colorado, Kansas State, TCU, Baylor, Houston, and Arizona, as well as both L.A. schools. He is scheduled to graduate high school in December. He is the Sun Devils’ first defensive lineman pledge in the 2026 class, the tenth ASU pledge in the 2026 class, and the fifth prospect from Texas in this group, joining Uini, four-star QB Jake Fette, WR Cooper Reid, and OL Cortavious Tisaby.
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