Santaluces alum wows at Hawaii
Diocemy Saint Juste is nation’s thirdleading rusher.
When Diocemy Saint Juste ran for 250 yards and three touchdowns in one of his first starts as a junior at Santaluces in 2013, his coach was backslapping effusive with praise.
“You know what? He didn’t even smile,” recalled Daryl Drinkwater, the Chiefs’ former coach. “He had that stone-face look of his.”
He “just turned around and went out on the track to run some more,” Drinkwater said. “He went back out to work on it, running in the dark by himself because he felt he could have done better.”
Thanks to that dedication, people who know him will tell you they are only mildly surprised he is the third-leading rusher in the nation at 892 yards and fifth in yards rushing per game (148.7) entering Saturday’s game against San Jose State while writing his name deeper in Hawaii’s record book.
They’re surprised he is doing it at Hawaii, a place more accustomed to having its quarterbacks and receivers atop NCAA stats, perhaps, but not that Saint Juste is escalating his success from a 1,006-yard junior season.
“He’s so hard on himself, that he (drives) himself to be good,” Drinkwater said.
“He is one of those guys who really, really prepares and always knows what he is doing,” quarterback Dru Brown seconded.
In an up-and-down season for the 3-4 Rainbow Warriors, Saint Juste has been one of the few constants. Constantly good — and getting better — that is.
After managing 78 yards in the season opener, production Saint Juste said he found unacceptable, he has put together the best fivegame run in school history: 787 yards.
In the process, he’s shot up the career rushing leader board from outside the top 10 to the likelihood of passing Michael Carter for No. 2 this week.
Saint Juste needs 45 yards Saturday against San Jose State, the nation’s third-worst rushing defense, to overtake Carter (2,528). And Gary Allen’s 36-year-old school record of 3,451 yards — while ambitious — might not be out of reach by season’s end.
If Saint Juste helps lift Hawaii to a bowl game, he would need to average 138 yards a game over the course of the season to surpass Allen.
Along the way, Saint Juste has become UH’s go-to back, with 65 percent of the team’s rushing attempts and 70 percent of the yardage. He is well along a pace for the most rushing attempts in a season while averaging 24 a game.
“I’ll take as many as they give me,” Saint Juste said. “I’m willing to be the workhorse for this team, if it comes down to it.”
The funny thing is Saint Juste began his high school football career deemed to be a blocking back at Atlantic and, then, a bit-part player after transferring to Santaluces for his junior season.
“He first went out for football not really knowing that much about it,” Drinkwater said. “They had ‘D’ at fullback, just using him as a lead blocker, never even gave him a chance. They just thought he was a short kid (5-8) with not many skills because he had no experience with football. He didn’t really know football because he wasn’t a football guy. He was a soccer guy.
“He just needed an opportunity. He’s still really young at the game, but he works hard, really prepares and is a flat-out competitor. Lord willing, he stays healthy because, now, you’re beginning to see the real ‘D.’”