Offensive lineman Marques Uini didn’t plan to commit during his time in Tempe, with four scheduled official visits following his trip to ASU this past weekend. Nonetheless, the 6-foot-5 300-pounder realized that during his time with the Sun Devils, there was no need to explore other suitors, announcing his commitment to the coaches during the visit and making that decision public on Monday morning.
“It felt right, it felt like home.,” said the Copperas Cove High School standout who is also a Top 100 prospect in the state of Texas. “It was a great place. Meeting all the people there, it just felt amazing. So, it really pushed me to commit. One thing that really stood out to me was Coach Dillingham. He would walk around, play games with the players, and just chat it up. I was listening to one of the conversations between a parent of someone who visited there and my parents, and they were saying that they didn't know that Coach Dillingham was the head coach simply because of how friendly and how nice he was. It really took them by surprise.
“It really is amazing to have a head coach like that, to be honest. At dinner, he did two magic tricks, which really blew my mind. So, it's great to have a head coach like that.”
Offensive line coach Saga Tuitele was naturally involved in the pursuit of ASU's newest addition, and the two developed a strong relationship all throughout the recruiting process.
“He really showed that I was one of his top recruits,” Uini described. “He really pushed building a relationship with me, starting from the bottom, continuing on communicating with me, and gradually building trust. It just made me feel like I was already a part of the family. So, I had to make it official. I didn’t expect to commit before my visit. I was really open-booked, wanted to see what was going on (with the schools recruiting him), and was planning on committing in July or August. But, they hit it at the ballpark.”
And that formidable bond with Tuitele allowed Uini to play a good-natured prank on his future position coach.
“I had a meeting with Coach Kenny early morning on Saturday,” Uini recalled. “I told him I’m committing, and he was a ball of energy and started getting hyped. And then we actually played a prank on Coach Saga. His (Dillingham’s) plan was to act like nothing happened and play it off. So, we did that, and when we went to eat breakfast, we told Coach Saga that we didn't get me, yada, yada, yada. Then later on during breakfast, I announced it, and Coach Saga started tearing up. And it was great. It felt very meaningful to me, seeing that my O-Line coach who was really happy to get me.”
Another element that affected the offensive lineman's pledge was the fact that Saga Tuitele, along with the rest of the ASU staff, prides itself on landing a good number of Polynesian players.
“It added a lot more to my decision when I was actually hanging out with just the players,” Uini explained, “simply because I could tell that the Poly Pipeline really does draw strong over there. I saw all of them just all hanging out together and adding me and the other Polys who were on visit. It was great sitting there and actually being around them, and it just adds so much meaning to it.”
Uini has already visited Baylor and Arkansas, and aside from planned visits to those two schools, Stanford and Houston were also in line for official trips. The offensive lineman who is scheduled to graduate high school in December is Arizona State’s eighth commitment in the 2026 class, the second offensive lineman in the group joining Cortavious Tisaby and the fourth Lone Star State pledge in this group.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
