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An All-American and national leader in kill per game average is considering not returning to Hawai’i for his junior season.
Hawai’i outside attacker Jonas Umlauft will remain in his native Germany for the fall semester and is undecided on returning to the Warriors for the 2012 season during the spring semester, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday.
Umlauft was a 2011 First-Team All-American and led the nation with a 5.57 kills per game average — the only player to average more than five kills per game. He also was named an Academic All-American ending the spring semester with a 3.93 culumative grade point average.
The two biggest reasons Umlauft left Hawai’i, the newspaper reported, is because his girlfriend lives in Germany and he would like to earn an engineering degree from a German college.
Hawai’i coach Charlie Wade said in an interview with the Star-Advertiser that he will set aside Umlauft’s scholarship money to leave open the possibility of him returning for the upcoming season.
“We’re not going to close the book entirely,” Wade said. “He has a chance to come back, but we are absolutely moving forward with the program.”
Hawai’i finished last season in fifth place in the MPSF and lost to UC Irvine in the conference tournament quarterfinals. The Warriors, which have four returning starters, were ranked in the top 10 of the final coaches poll.
For more on this story, check out the initial articled reported in the Star-Advertiser.