Star Lotulelei

Starlite Lotulelei (pronounced ; born December 20, 1989) is an American football defensive tackle. He shared the 2011 Morris Trophy for the best lineman in the Pacific-12 Conference with Matt Kalil, and was named All-Conference First Team. He is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2013 NFL Draft.

High school and junior college career
A native of Tonga, Lotulelei attended Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah. Playing defensive lineman at 240 pounds, he helped the team to a 14–0 record and a state title in 2006. Lotulelei registered 72 tackles and seven sacks as a senior.


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Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Lotulelei was listed as the No. 3 overall prospect from Utah. However, he was overshadowed by Oregon-bound Simi Fili, who was labeled the best defensive lineman from Utah since Haloti Ngata, but eventually bounced around between junior colleges before falling into obscurity and eventually becoming a strongman competitor. Lotulelei, too, failed to qualify academically for his original school of choice, Brigham Young University. He eventually spent what would have been his freshman season delivering furniture for a store in Salt Lake City. After a year, he enrolled at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. Now far over 300 pounds, Lotulelei played defensive line for the Badgers alongside James Aiono, and recorded 52 tackles with 14 TFL, three sacks and one forced fumble in 2008. Snow College reached the 2008 NJCAA national championship game, but lost 37–30 in double-overtime to Butler Community College.

Lotulelei then took the 2009 season off to preserve another year of college eligibility. He was still recruited by BYU, but also Oregon State, Utah State, and Utah. "The Utah coaches came down to Snow a couple of times," Lotulelei said. "They showed me they really wanted me. It showed me they really cared. So coming here wasn't that hard of a choice."

College career
In 2010, Lotulelei arrived at the University of Utah, playing in all 13 games and making the starting lineup for the Utes' final three games of the season. He totaled 21 tackles with 2.5 TFL, and also was credited for a half quarterback sack, which came against San Jose State in arguably his best game of the season (season-high five tackles). Lotulelei also made several appearances at offensive guard.

A regular starter in 2011, Lotulelei was a All-Pac-12 Conference performer and won the Morris Trophy as the league's best defensive lineman. He started all 13 games, and registered 44 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one pass breakup, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. His 9.0 tackles for loss tied sophomore linebacker Trevor Reilly for second on the team. In a 14–31 loss against Washington, Lotulelei had six tackles including 2.5 TFL. A week later he had five tackles in a 14–35 loss against Arizona State. Against California, Lotulelei surprised with a 17-yard reception on a fake punt play. Utah finished the regular season 7–5 and played Georgia Tech in the 2011 Sun Bowl. Lotulelei made six tackles and recovered a fumble and was named the Bowl's Most Valuable Lineman.

Lotulelei returned to Utah for his senior year, and started in all 12 games at nose tackle. He recorded 42 tackles included a team-high 11 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks, while also having four pass breakups, four fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles. A season-high seven tackles plus two pass breakup came early in the season in a 24–21 win against his former school, Brigham Young. Lotulelei blocked a 51-yard field goal attempt with 1 second remaining following a third-down incompletion. Two weeks later, Lotulelei had a heralded performance against highly rated USC Trojans center Khaled Holmes in a 28–38 loss for the Utes.

2013 NFL Draft
Forgoing the chance of a professional career in 2012, Lotulelei decided to return to Utah after the 2011 season. In preseason mock drafts from May 2012, Lotulelei was listed as a late first-rounder for the 2013 NFL Draft as well. By mid-season, he had moved up to a top-3 spot. Utah has not seen one of their defensive linemen selected in the first round since Luther Elliss in 1995.

Lotulelei was not allowed to work out with the rest of the defensive lineman at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine after an echocardiogram revealed an abnormally low ejection fraction. While a normal heart will pump between 55 to 70 percent of the blood out of the left ventricle of the heart and into the body, Lotulelei's left ventricle was found to be pumping at only 44 percent. A month after the combine, Lotulelei worked out in front of NFL personnel at Utah's Pro Day. He reportedly "looked strong in all the position drills," and registered 38 repetitions in the 225-pound bench press, which would have tied him with Margus Hunt and Brandon Williams for the top mark at the combine.

Personal
Born on Tonga, Lotulelei moved with his family to Utah at age 9. His father, Sitaliti, is a Mormon seminary teacher and has a doctorate from Brigham Young University.

Lotulelei is married to Fuiva, with daughters Arilani and Pesatina.