Fanaikas walk on, succeed at ASU

There's almost no chance for a Paul Fanaika today in major-college football - a guy who shows up at an open tryout, makes good as a scout-team offensive lineman and, five years later, leaves with the second-most starts among the seniors.

Yet that's what Fanaika accomplished at Arizona State. Not only that, his sister Lavinia (Nia for short) made the ASU women's basketball team as a walk-on and is in her fourth and final season.

"It's quite a story," said their father Sunia. "I knew Paul could get a chance to play, even when at times it seemed like a long shot. One thing he had was his size and his commitment."

What he didn't have initially was the full support of his extended family. His paternal grandfather, in particular, wanted him to stay in the Bay Area near their home in Daly City, Calif.

Sunia Fanaika (pronounced Fan-EYE-kuh) is from the Pacific Island nation Tonga, where family means everything.

"In a lot of ways, decision making is influenced by the family structure, to the point where you're kind of held back," Sunia said, "especially going to college away from home. For us, it was always different. Our kids were always involved in a lot of activities that enabled them to go away for short periods of time - especially to San Francisco, where it's so diverse.

"We caught some flak about being too Westernized. But we did encourage our kids to find a place and be comfortable."

Paul's dream coming out of Mills High in nearby Millbrae was to play Pac-10 football in warm weather. His coach, Barrett Krieger, unsuccessfully lobbied on Fanaika's behalf.

"I sent out a lot of tapes," Krieger told the Palo Alto (Calif.) Daily News in 2006. "He was big, strong, mobile, an effective blocker. I told UCLA that if they don't take him, he's going to be playing against you someday."

Fanaika, who earned a scholarship after the 2005 season, will make his 34th consecutive start at right guard Friday against UCLA. Senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter (41) and junior defensive end Dexter Davis (36) are the only active Sun Devils with more starts.

"I was willing to try out just to keep playing football," Fanaika said. "Because when you like something so much, it doesn't matter what you have to do to get it."

Nia, a year younger than Paul, learned to love ASU while visiting him in 2004. She became a backup Sun Devils guard in 2005 and as a senior is earning regular minutes in coach Charli Turner Thorne's rotation.

"After seeing how much he liked it and how much fun he was having his first year, I liked it a lot," she said. "It made me focus more on what ASU's program had."

Nia averaged 21.1 points per game as a senior at Mills High and was Peninsula Region Player of the Year. She had a scholarship offer in the Midwest, but that was too far away.

Sports came naturally to the Fanaika offspring. Sunia played rugby while attending college in Australia, and his wife Tina played volleyball at Fresno State. Paul and Nia grew up playing baseball with their father as their coach before branching into their current sports.

"It was an athletic family," Nia said. "We were playing sports ever since I can remember. It started off with my oldest brother (Manase), and we just followed along."

Said Paul: "They hoped we would make it far in sports, but it was more about having fun as opposed to putting a lot of pressure on us.

"It was more important that we get the education and also experience what it's like to be a college kid and have all these learning experiences."

That includes Paul being a part of ASU's flourishing Polynesian football tradition. He is one of nine players with that cultural heritage on this year's team, and the group was even larger last season.

"A lot of it has to do with the way they (Polynesians) were brought up," offensive-line coach Gregg Smith said. "They're really close with their families. They've known how to work hard since they were little kids. That's always carried over with most of that group. Paul is an exceptional kid because he really works at it and wants to go on and play."

Smith said NFL scouts are showing interest in the 6-foot-6, 336-pound Fanaika.

"A lot of times on Fridays, I put the kids in there by themselves. He gets in there and runs the meeting, and they talk about the game plan," Smith said. "He's a real student of the game.

"Hopefully he's going to get a chance to play at the next level. He's on their radar."

Sister and brother Nia and Paul Fanaika started ASU as walk-on athletes in women's basketball and football respectively.