Player Spotlight: Raimoana Tiniauarii
The past two years have been bitter sweet for Rai and his Juan Diego teammates. They have a fantastic record 44-10. The downside is that Rai and his teammates have lost in the state championship game three years in a row. Those three losses have come against three different teams. Rai hopes that this year is different but knows that the only thing that matters is that they take one game at a time. He knows that in order for them to get back to the ship everyone has to do more. “We have to do better on offense, but everyone has to do more and be willing to do more than our caches are asking of us.”
The Class of 2019 6’4 G is a handful because he is strong and quick. Last season Rai decided a few weeks into the school year that he wanted to play football, so spoke with the football coaches and he provided a spark Juan Diego needed ad he helped them win a State Championship. This year he has heard from a few school interested in him playing football at the collegiate level. Weber State has extended an invitation for him to come on a visit.
Rai has also heard from a few colleges locally that have shown some interest in him playing basketball. When speaking to Rai he mentioned that he would choose the best school for him regardless of sport.
Right now Rai is focused on his next opponent. He is a leader in the locker room and on the court. Although you might not hear Rai be very vocal, you will see him lead by example. He has a lot of players that look up to him on the lower levels. He is one of 3 seniors on the team and everyone looks to him to lead and Rai is a wiling leader.
With Juan Diego graduating their two top leading scorers Rai knows that he has to step it up, but he also wants his teammates to step up as well. In game 1 at Utah Valley University Rai scored a game high 25 points. Up next is for Rai and Juan Diego is Mountain View.
When it comes to Rai being ready for the next level, he is an aggressive guard on both ends of the court. Rai can handle the ball well and he has many ways to get the basket. He rebounds well and can guard 6’6 comfortably which would be great for Division 2 schools looking for a multifaceted player. Currently Rai has a 3.6 GPA and a 20 ACT score but plans to better his academics.