USC-bound Alani Noa anchors Grant Pacers’ offensive line: ‘Hasn’t scratched the surface’
When Alani Noa first picked up football just before going to Grant Union High School, his mother, Lola Davis, asked him how far he thought he could go.
“I said, ‘Are you going to make it to the NFL?’ And he said, ‘Yes,’” Davis said.
“I said, ‘How can you be so sure?” she continued. “’You answered me so fast without thinking.’ He said, ‘I am going to make it, mom. The way we struggle in life, you and dad, I am going to make it. Because I see how you struggle and I want to get you out of here.’”
The Noa name is synonymous with Grant football and Del Paso Heights. Alani’s older brother, Sione, played at Grant last year and is now a defensive end at Fresno State. There are numerous others who have been linked to the Pacer family dating back to the 1990s with Alani being the latest. Roughly 20 family members attend every game to watch Alani play, and there was nearly double that at Grant’s senior night last month.
Noa will be playing the last high school game of his career on Saturday night when Grant hosts San Jacinto of Riverside County for the CIF III-AA state championship bowl game. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
The NFL is often a pipe dream, but those around the Grant program believe Noa has as much upside as any Pacer in recent memory. The school has put out players like Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson, Lions offensive lineman Darrin Paulo, who’s currently on the practice squad, and Orlando Umana, who appeared in 40 games at the University of Utah before transferring to Ole Miss before last season.
“We’ve had a group of skilled linemen,” Grant offensive line coach Devan Cunningham said. “And he’s up there. ... He’s up there with the greats of the old line from Grant. He has the highest ceiling that I’ve seen.”
Added Pacers head coach Carl Reed: “I don’t think he’s even scratched the surface.”
It’s easy to see why. Noa is listed at 6-foot-4 and 350 pounds. He moved from tackle to left guard and committed in August to play at USC, turning down overtures from other West Coast schools including Oregon.
Noa is the youngest of five, including three older brothers. Davis said he still acts “like a baby” even though he’s the biggest member of the family. He’s quiet — called the “Gentle Giant” by some involved with the Grant program — but lets his ability to pancake defenders do the talking.
“He’s an introvert,” Cunningham said. “Even on the field, sometimes it’s hard to gauge where he’s at, but internally he’s ready to play and tear it up in the trenches.”
Coaches remember the moment earlier in the season when Noa sent four defenders to the ground on a big running play. And when Noa came to the sideline, he hardly reacted while teammates and staffers celebrated him by hooting, hollering and bumping his chest. Noa remained stoic. It spoke to his disposition. His voice is often barely above a whisper.
Family is Noa’s motivation. Davis lives in a small apartment, which wasn’t easy with Noa and his siblings growing up, particularly when family would pack the dinner table around the holidays. Davis works nights at a nearby hospital. Noa realizes his chance at a quality education and potential football career could change things dramatically.
“(Football) means a lot to me,” Noa said, “because it’s the backbone of my family success right now.”
Davis said her message to her youngest son has been about putting school first before football. Noa is roughly a 3.7 student on top of providing a leadership role to the rest of the football program. Cunningham and fellow senior offensive lineman Puka Keliikuli credited Noa for helping mentor two freshmen who have started along the offensive line, which has been key to Grant’s run through the postseason leading up to Saturday.
“I’ve been playing with Alani since I was in eighth grade,” Keliikuli said. “He’s been my right hand man and having both of us at guard, that set a good example for all the young guys.”
Noa wears No. 77 and is impossible to miss on the field. He hasn’t cut his hair since beginning high school — and it can take over an hour to braid by his sister or aunt. That’s if he decides against letting it flow nearly covering his numbers on his blue and gold jersey.
Davis grew up in Tonga and moved to Sacramento when she was 19 to play basketball after being discovered in a tournament in Hawaii. But since settling in Del Paso Heights, she says she’s struggled to provide for her five children as a single mother.
“It makes me happy,” Davis said of her son’s burgeoning football career and eventual move to USC. “But my thing is, I don’t want him to follow my footsteps (struggling) in life. I want him to get somewhere he can accomplish his life ahead of him. Number one is school to me. When he told me, ‘I’m going to the NFL, mom,’ I was the happiest person for him to answer right away like that.
“He knows what he’s doing. I pray to God that will happen.”
