Look: St. John Bosco's Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa talks Notre Dame, family and Mater Dei
The first you notice about St. John Bosco linebacker Kynstonn Viliamu-Asa in person is his soft voice. He's humble. Gracious. And barely audible.
The first thing you notice on the football field with Viliamu-Asa is how hard he hits. Jarring. Crushing. And sideline-to-sideline.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior is ranked the eighth best linebacker in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports. He committed to Notre Dame over 22 other offers in July and though he's looking forward to joining the Irish soon, his 100 percent focus today is on his Braves "brothers"
And Friday's annual national tilt at home against Mater Dei, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation according to SBLive Sports. The Braves (6-1) are No. 7.
The game will pit more than 70 combined top recruits with at least one FBS college offer and at stake is a Trinity League title, which will lead to the top seed in the Southern Section playoffs, which ultimately will like lead to state and national title possibilities.
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (27) during his team's CIF State Open Division championship win over Serra-San Mateo at Saddleback College in December.
Photo: Joe Bergman
Needless to say, it's big.
"There’s lots of hype around it," Viliamu-Asa told SBLive reporter Myckena Guerrero late last week (see complete interview above). "I look forward to getting on the field against a lot of guys I grew up with and being able to compete at the highest level against great players and just having fun."
The fast and physical senior has had quite a four-year career for the Braves, earning playing time as a freshman during a shortened spring season due to the pandemic. Viliamu-Asa also tore his ACL that year, forcing him to miss his entire sophomore compaign.
This week: California scores
Thanks to big junior and senior years, he's piled up 191 career tackles, eight sacks and a pair of interceptions. His teams have gone 33-4 and last year they were crowned section, state and mythical national champions.
When asked by Guerrero his No. 1 moment on the team, Viliamu-Asa went after the question as fast as he goes after ball carriers. He cited the date, score, place — St. John Bosco 24, Mater Dei 22 for the 2022 Southern Section Division I championship at the Rose Bowl.
That turned around a 17-7 loss to the Monarchs earlier in the season. It's a stinging defeat Mater Dei returners will no doubt still be fresh come Friday.
