Arizona State has been in contact with local Mesa Westwood EDGE prospect Sinei Tengei since his freshman year, but the Sun Devils only offered him a scholarship last week during a Big Man competition held on the Tempe campus. Following an official visit a week later, Tengei decided to commit to the school.
“They wanted to offer me like two years ago, but the thing is I just didn't have the weight that they wanted to see me at,” said the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Tengei. "But when I went to the camp last week, they saw me, and they were surprised that I got better and bigger. I was there with my team, and during the camp, they pulled me aside to work with Coach Diron (defensive line coach Diron Reynolds). He was surprised that I got way better, and then they called Coach Dillingham. He came over and he was asking me like, ‘Are you ready to become a Sun Devil? Are you ready to stay home?’ And I was like, ‘Yes sir.’ And after that, that's when they offered me, and we're all hyped up and fired up.
“I wanted to play close to home, but I committed because of the whole school and the whole team, too. The program is amazing, they have a lot of resources and great facilities. It (his pledge) was about the culture, the coaching staff, and the players because they all made me feel like it was home, and I was grateful when I went over there for the official visit.”
During his junior season, Tengei posted 44 tackles and three sacks in eight games. His high motor and work ethic were some of the traits that appealed to the ASU coaches when they saw him in action last week.
“Coach Diron likes my physicalness,” Tengei described. "If you see my film, I like hitting kids and running into them. He wants me to learn to work on my hands so I can get by offensive linemen and get to the QB. I’m gonna work on that every Friday and Saturday with my uncle and get stronger and more explosive, so I can try and play as a freshman.”
Tengei is on track to graduate in December. He chose Arizona State over BYU, Boise State and Iowa State, which have all offered him and programs where he did take trips to. He was also considering Utah State and New Mexico who extended scholarship offers too. He took visits to Boise State, BYU, and Iowa State and was also considering Utah State and New Mexico.
Tengei is another success story for the Sun Devils recruiting Polynesian players. He is the fifth Polynesian player already committed to the 2026 class and will join a team that has over a dozen players who share the same culture.
“It was amazing seeing coaches and players coming from the same culture,” Tengei commented. “It was cool to see all of us bonding, being from California and other places.”
Tengei is the 17th commit in ASU's 2026 recruiting class and the second in-state pledge, joining defensive back Zeth Angel Thues.
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