August 21, 2006
Former MCC grid star returns to Valley as CardIn its 40 years of athletics, Mesa Community College has produced some outstanding athletes.
Every year players from MCC go on to play their respective sports at Division I and II colleges all across the country.
Some, such as former Arizona Diamondback baseball player Shea Hillenbrand, who now plays for the San Francisco Giants, have taken their game from the fields in Mesa all the way to the pro level. Solid coaching and an instilled competitiveness have Thunderbird athletes striving to take their game to the next level.
This April, Taitusi “Duece” Latui became the latest member of the former MCC athletes to join the professional ranks as he was drafted by the hometown Arizona Cardinals as the 71st overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Lutui, a native of Mesa, played high school football for the very successful Mesa High Football program where he played both offensive and defensive tackle.
After finishing his career at Mesa High, Lutui was recruited by the University of Utah and actually signed his letter of intent to play there.However, in 2002 Duece chose to stay home and play his first year right here at MCC. As a freshman, Lutui played on the offensive line.
Though he played for the Thunderbirds for only a year, he played well enough to be recruited by Brigham Young University. After leaving Mesa, he transferred to Snow College in Utah where he played his sophomore year.
After leaving Snow, Lutui opted not to got to BYU, where several of his relatives played, but instead decided to enroll at the prestigious football powerhouse University of Southern California.
In his first year as a Trojan, Lutui played left tackle where he protected Heisman trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinhart, who was also drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in April’s draft. In his first season with USC in 2004, the Trojans won a National Championship.
Deuce took great pride in Leinhart’s Heisman that year, as he kept defenders off of him for the entire season. “He is just a pretty boy I like to protect,” Lutui joked after being drafted and finding out that he would again be playing with Leinhart.
In his senior season, after making the transition to guard, Latui helped carry the Trojans to a perfect season all the way to the National Championship where they fell to the Texas Longhorns.As a native of Mesa, Deuce grew up an Arizona fan.
“I’d do anything to protect my loyalty to the team. This is a big time honor for me, it’s huge. This is so much more my place to play,” said Lutui to the local media after being drafted.
Lutui will be part of a lot of excitement going on for the Arizona Cardinals this coming season.
The Cardinals just completed building a state of the art new stadium that was christened on Saturday, August 12, as the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-13 in week one of the preseason.
The Cardinals have also completely sold out every home game, an astonishing feat.
The Cardinals also signed the biggest free agent of the offseason as Edgerrin James signed on to join the team. James, who came over from the Indianapolis Colts brings much needed marketability to a struggling franchise. Deuce will surely get a chance to show what he can do and become a part of the excitement.
Lutui has already made Mesa Community College proud. He has a bright future ahead of him, and will surely only better his reputation.