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Illini tight end quickly turning heads By MARK TUPPER - H&R Executive Sports Editor CHAMPAIGN - Once upon a time, when word trickled out that the fastest University of Illinois football player was a tight end, it was a harsh indictment on the rest of the team's speed.
Nowadays, with coach Ron Zook bringing aboard the most intriguing collection of talented freshmen in years, it's a reason to rejoice.
I don't know whether Zook's fast-paced upgrade of the talent level will have a dramatic impact on the win-loss record this season, but there seems little question that Illinois' head coach is on the brink of eradicating a culture of losing.
And when someone says that freshman tight end Jeff Cumberland just might be the fastest player on the squad, it doesn't mean that wide receivers, cornerbacks and tailbacks are slower than Mike Tyson at a spelling bee.
It means that Cumberland is a special athlete, a track sprinter in a body that measures 6-foot-5, 240 pounds. That well-sculpted frame includes just six percent body fat, which is roughly the same as a car bumper.
Unlike most freshmen, there's no question Cumberland will play this season. There's no alternative. He and fellow freshman Michael Hoomanawanui of Bloomington are the only realistic options on a roster that was left vacant when Melvin Bryant and J.R. Kraemer left the program in the offseason.
And while it's a bit scary to find any position manned solely by two true freshmen, coaches Zook and Mike Locksley (the offensive coordinator) believe they have two distinctively capable athletes who can get the job done.
"From what we've seen of them, with their size, strength and speed, we'll be just fine," Locksley said. "It's just a matter of how quickly they pick up the offense. Our job as coaches is to minimize the number of things we ask of them. We need to find out what they can do and let them do it."
Simply put, Cumberland can run like the wind. And Hoomanawanui can block and catch anything in his area code.
Cumberland is almost freakish in his ability to run.
"If he's not the fastest guy on the team, he's in the top five," Zook said. "People are going to have a hard time covering him."
Cumberland has recorded a time of 10.58 seconds at 100 meters while finishing fourth in the Ohio state high school outdoor championships. "I don't think a linebacker can cover him," said Decatur's Brit Miller, himself an Illini linebacker.
"He's the truth. When I played against him this summer, I found myself just grabbing for his shorts."
Cumberland hails from Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio, which begs the question: If he's so talented, why isn't he at Ohio State?
Fair question. He always assumed he go to Ohio State, living just a seven-minute drive from the Horseshoe. But Cumberland was a late academic qualifier and he bounced around within a volatile family life in a neighborhood filled with crime, danger and bad influences trying to lure others to the dark side.
"There were a lot of wild things going on," Cumberland said. "It was a pretty tough neighborhood.
"At first they were trying to get me involved in that. Then they realized I was involved in football and basketball. They were coming to the games and watching on the news and they could see that I as the only one who was trying to make it.
"So they let me be. They gave me respect for trying to make a career out of it."
Mostly, he was raised by his grandmother, Rosaline Cumberland.
What everyone could see was a rare athletic talent, a prep senior who made 25 catches for 801 yards, an average of 32 yards per catch. As a power forward on the basketball team, he averaged 15.4 points and set a school record with 76 dunks his senior year.
Cumberland wasn't thinking much about Illinois, but as schools waited on his test scores, Illinois invited him for a visit and he accepted.
"When I visited, everything seemed cool," he said. "The coaches seemed pretty cool and the players made me feel part of the team already. And I knew I had a chance to play as a freshman rather than redshirting or sitting behind someone else."
That convinced Cumberland to pick Illinois.
Meanwhile, another tight end had already committed. That was Hoomanawanui, the 6-5, 260-pounder with fly paper hands.
When he played at Bloomington Central Catholic, friends called him, "Ho," simply because his Hawaiian surname is so difficult for most to pronounce. But when he arrived at Illinois, Locksley quickly dubbed him, "Uh-oh," which is now his nickname and has become part of a tattoo on his bicep.
The nickname "Uh-oh" is lettered inside a raging shark, which is the family protector.
Hoomanawanui's father, Isy, played football at Illinois State and made sure his Hawaiian heritage was passed along to his children. No wonder, then, that Hoomanawanui's favorite college team growing up was the University of Hawaii, which ended up recruiting him.
"But it didn't work out because they don't use a tight end in their offense," he said. "I would have had to play defensive end."
Instead, he discovered an instant liking for Zook and, like Cumberland, quickly felt a part of the Illini football family.
Now, he's growing his hair ("It's what Polynesian players do," he said), wearing a Hawaiian hat made from palm leaves and occasionally giving his teammates a thrill by slipping into his "lava-lava," a skirt-like wrap common in the islands.
"They kid me about it," he laughs. "They say, 'Uh-oh's wearing his skirt again.'"
What no one is laughing about is the quality of talent at the tight end position, despite the lack of experience.
Cumberland (uniform No. 17) and Hoomanawanui (uniform No. 16) have become close friends. They study their play books religiously and have pledged to make Zook proud by sharing time and success at the position.
Hoomanawanui impresses by snatching balls out of the air from every angle. And Cumberland opens eyes with his startling speed.
"I recruited Vernon Davis to Maryland," said Locksley, referring to the tight end who was the sixth overall pick in this summer's NFL draft. "It's too early to say if he has that kind of talent. But athletically, I can say he'll be as athletic as any tight end who has ever been here."
No one seems willing to dispute that. Paired with his buddy "Uh-oh," they hope to become an invincible combination.