NCAA Early Signing Period: Hawaii swoops in to sign Nick Mardner in the waning hours of day one

A late-night addition brings the #Ohana18 group to 15 on #NationalSigningDay with the signing of Oakville, Ontario wide receiver Nick Mardner, coming at a field-stretching 6-5. Welcome to the ‘ohana Nick!#LiveAlohaPlayWarrior pic.twitter.com/z7F97F0t63

— Hawaii Football (@HawaiiFootball) December 21, 2017

CFC100 WR Nick Mardner (Clarkson Football North – Oakville ON)
Signing day is a wild ride of emotions, and we got an inside look through the eyes of Nick Mardner as he updated his social media yesterday. First he broke the news that the University of Hawaii had an offer on the board early in the day, then by the time we all woke up this morning, he had already announced overnight that he decided after a long deliberation to officially sign with the Rainbow Warriors.

Mardner originally hails from Oakville, Ontario where he got his feet wet playing for the Oakville Titans and Burlington Stampeders, and by the time he got to Clarkson Football North he grew into a 6’5”, 190lbs physical freak that would attract the attention of multiple programs on both sides of the border. He had taken visits at some U Sports schools and had an offer from Maine on the table, but as we’ve seen with other recruits – when an FBS program comes calling – it’s tough to turn down the offer. Mardner has made it very clear that he intends on chasing his NFL aspirations after his NCAA career, and it makes sense that the Rainbow Warriors would be an attractive spot with a run of 14 players being drafted between 2007-2014.

Problem is Hawaii hasn’t been producing the same level of talent the last couple years with a downswing in their year-by-year records, but this offers the perfect opportunity for Mardner to flourish early if he can prove to the coaching staff he can make a difference on the scoreboard.