Vavae Malepeai Profile

By Grayson Adler

In the world of athletics, life-changing events can happen quickly. Athletes spend a few hours touring college campuses to decide where they will spend the next three or four years of their lives. An ordinary move or clean hit can sideline a player for an entire season. This is what happened to #29 Vavae Malepeai, USC’s 2018 starting running back.

Committing early to Oregon in 2015, Malepeai’s collegiate football career was set. However, a last-minute visit to meet with USC’s head coach Clay Helton and a tour of the southern California campus lead to a change of heart for the young recruit. Malepeai toured USC’s campus on February 2, 2016, as an Oregon Duck and woke up the next morning eagerly anticipating his future as a USC Trojan.

According to 24/7 Sports, Malepeai was a top-ten running back in the 2016 high school recruiting class and ready to turn heads as a true freshman at USC. Malepeai trained hard prior to the start of USC’s 2016 fall camp. He knew it would be a considerable challenge to dethrone the speedy and agile #25 Ronald Jones III. On the first day of full-contact practice, Malepeai accomplished his goal of turning heads, just not in the way he had intended. A clean hit sent Malepeai straight to the ground. A heavy silence hovered as everyone turned their attention on the motionless true freshman.

In classic Malepeai fashion, he bounced to his feet and looked towards the sideline for the next play call. But, the coaches pulled him to the sideline to give him a quick once-over. Malepeai said he was fine, but as he reached for a water bottle, a searing pain shot through the right side of his upper chest. At first the doctors thought it was a “stinger” — nothing for Malepeai to be afraid of. As a precaution, doctors x-rayed Malepeai’s upper body. Turns out, it wasn’t a simple stinger. Malepeai’s right scapula was badly shattered, and his collegiate career was put on hold for 2016.

Malepeai spent the 2016 season rehabbing and training for the 2017 season. Unfortunately, Malepeai’s hope for a 2017 breakout season never materialized. He rushed for only 261 yards, and he failed to score a single touchdown.

Not one to give up, Malepeai trained even harder in the offseason to prepare for 2018. This time, his hard work paid off. After scoring two touchdowns in USC’s 2018 opening game, Malepeai dethroned #7 Stephen Carr, USC’s star freshman running back of 2017. Fully healed and fully prepared, Malepeai showed everyone how strong of a runner he truly is. In 2018, he rushed for 501 yards in 12 games, and he lead the USC Trojans with eight rushing touchdowns.

Despite his best efforts, USC finished the season with only five wins. Malepeai is currently back in the gym training, with the goal of doubling his 2018 results to rush for 1,000 yards in 2019 — a feat only accomplished 29 times in USC’s 130-year football history.

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