HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i is well represented among this year's finalists for the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame with five on the ballot for induction into the Class of 2021.
 
Standouts Alapati "Al" Noga and Falaniko "Niko" Noga are among the finalists for the fifth consecutive year. Also on the ballot are former player and coach Tommy Kaulukukui, former player Vince Manuwai, and former player Harry Montague-Field.
 
Three inductees will be announced on November 18, 2020.
 
The finalists were selected from a field of over 100 nominations by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. The Selection Committee and all living Polynesian Hall of Fame Inductees will vote in the coming weeks to select the individuals who will be inducted as the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021. 
 
Al and Niko Noga were inducted jointly into UH's Sports Circle of Honor in the Class of 2013. Niko was a four-time all-Western Athletic Conference selection and two-time honorable mention Associated Press All-American. Al was UH's first AP first-team All-American and Heisman Trophy candidate in 1986.
 
Kaulukukui was the first UH athlete ever to earn All-America recognition as a football player in the 1930s. Dubbed "Grass Shack" by the great sportswriter Grantland Rice, his 103-yard kickoff return against UCLA in 1935 is still a school record. In six seasons as head coach, Kaulukukui led UH to a 34-18-3 record. For his accomplishments, he was chosen as a charter member of the National Football Hall of Fame Association.
 
Manuwai was a first-team All-American by CNN/SI and CBS Sports in 2002. A three-year starter at right guard, he did not allow a sack throughout his career. Following his UH career, he was picked in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft and started 105 of 111 games with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He died in 2018 at the age of 38.
 
Montague-Field was one of the state's great athletes in the late 1920s and early '30s. After a standout prep career at Punahou School, he spent one season with UH in 1930 before transferring to Oregon State.