The Kansas football team and its offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa received an early Christmas gift on Tuesday night with the signing of UCLA transfer lineman Tavake Tuikolovatu, according to multiple reports.
Tuikolovatu will have three years left to play. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, he played 37 snaps on offense, including 15 at right guard, with one start, as well as 66 on special teams; in his first year with the Bruins he played three downs as a right tackle.
The native of Wailuku, Hawaii, is 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, and had been a three-star recruit in the class of 2023 out of Summit High School in Fontana, California.
Tuikolovatu’s move to KU came together very quickly, as he entered the portal on Dec. 17 and was committed to the Jayhawks a week later, with On3 the first outlet to report his move on Tuesday.
He is now the fourth underclassman joining KU’s offensive line out of the portal, after DeAndre Harper (Northwest Missouri State), Jack Tanner (Tulsa) and Tyler Mercer (North Texas), all of whom have four years left to play.
Tuikolovatu could have a chance to vie for playing time, particularly at KU’s vacant left guard and right tackle spots, with Kobe Baynes, Calvin Clements and Bryce Foster all heavy favorites to start for the Jayhawks next season. Nolan Gorczyca is another key player in the mix as KU looks to fill the spots vacated by Michael Ford Jr. (who graduated) and Logan Brown (who departed for the NFL Draft).
