CJ Caraang | SL

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Pupualii Sepulona is a singular talent in more ways than one. 

The Saint Louis standout basketball player proved to be the best player on the hardwood last winter, when he was selected as All-Hawaii Division I Player of the Year and led the Crusaders to a second straight state championship. 

Sepulona, who averaged 18.3 points per game as a sophomore this season, was more recently tabbed by the ScoringLive staff as the Male Distinguished Athlete Award winner for the 2022-'23 school year. 

"Winning this award is big for me," said Sepulona, who also helped the Saint Louis boys volleyball team capture a Division II state crown in the spring. 

"Being young, being a sophomore and winning, it's so surreal. I feel like this season has been a lot, going through adversity and I know that I made a big statement this past basketball season and volleyball season, but I just continue to stay humble and I just keep working," he said. 

Saint Louis coach Dan Hale credited Sepulona not only for his increased production on the court, but his improved leadership on and off of it. 

"I think the whole season was impressive by him, for sure, but I think first and foremost was the leadership," said Hale, who was tasked with replacing his entire starting lineup from a year ago. "He stepped up as a leader and we had lost all five starters, including some pretty big personalities as leaders and Pupu stepped right in and basically took control," Hale said. 

In addition to his more vocal leadership style, Sepulona also added to his basketball repertoire. 

"The amount of work he put in in the offseason to increase his skills and expand himself, that was also phenomenal to watch. He went from a guy basically posting up to inside-outside, he was a playmaker, he was getting rebounds – he was doing everything for us – but it was that leadership that really separated himself," Hale expounded. 

Sepulona's sophomore campaign was one to be remembered, for sure. He scored in double figures in all but one of his team's 31 total games, including preseason and postseason contests. Sepulona eclipsed the 20-point mark 11 times, including a 27-point effort against national powerhouse Montverde Academy (Florida). He poured in a season-high 29 points in a regular-season game against Punahou and averaged 18.7 points in three state tournament games. 

"He just has that innate ability to do whatever is needed in the moment and the real special ones have that and with him being able to step up in those times, it inspires other guys to kind of step up, which ultimately leads to him making the people around him better," Hale said, "that's really the key with Pupu, is he make the people around him better and when you get that, it's really a good combination."

Sepulona's success was a byproduct of his sweat equity and certainly did not come overnight. He talked about some of the adversity that he and his teammates endured – but overcame – during the rigorous Interscholastic League of Honolulu season. 

"We played Maryknoll four times and I feel like after the second time we played them we were starting to get body aches and started to feel fatigued and I feel like for me personally, I just had to stay mentally strong. Sometimes I had to pray and meditate, but for me, I had to tell myself to be mentally strong and to fight through adversity and the pain and that's what I did," Sepulona stated. 

As for what pushed Sepulona through those tough times? Simple. His mother, Valasi, a former volleyball player and his father, Siona, who played high school basketball himself back in Samoa. 

"My motivation comes from my parents, my mom and dad," said Sepulona, an only child. "They made so many sacrifices for me to be in the position I am today. They're always working hard, sometimes I don't see my dad because he's always at work, working hard to provide for his family and same with my mom; She works hard and is always taking me to training and of course, God. I wouldn't have the strength and ability if not for Him and I know that everything I do – in the classroom, on the court – I do for Him and for Him only."

Knowing that all of his parents' efforts and sacrifices are to benefit him, Sepulona is ever-appreciative of their love.

"It's a lot. Throughout the years they always gave me great advice and sometimes advice I don't want to hear, but they still told me and whenever I see them feeling tired I try to help them out and I want to be like them; They're my role models," Sepulona said. "I'm just trying to carry my dad's legacy and his dreams and I'm just trying to pass the torch from him and carry it and then my mom, I just try to be like her. I mean, mother and son is a different type of bond and relationship and I just love her so much and I just think of them whenever I step on that court."

Sepulona was selected as the most outstanding player of both the Division I boys basketball state tournament and the Division II boys volleyball state tournament this school year. Not to be forgotten, he was also on the Crusaders' varsity II football team in the fall and was selected as an All-ILH First Team all-star on the defensive line.

Hale believes that Sepulona's legacy when he leaves Kalaepohaku in two years will be a storied one. 

"I would say his legacy would be to be someone who came and really established himself as a leader of not just the team, I mean, obviously the team, but if you could see him at school, in the classroom — he's very high-achieving academically — but just personality wise, his legacy is just this huge impact he's made on the students around him, not just the guys on the team, but really being a role model and showing guys how to do things the right way," Hale said. 

Despite his heavy athletic load, Sepulona is steadfast in his commitment to keep academics at the top of his priority list. 

"For me what it means to be a student-athlete is putting the books first before playing and I feel like even though you can be a great athlete, if you don't have the GPA or the grades, it doesn't matter. Just taking pride in the classroom and in sports, so always maintaining both sides, that's what it means to be me to be a student-athlete," Sepulona said. 

Sepulona is the first basketball player selected as the Male Distinguished Athlete Award winner and the first boy or girl to earn the distinction as a sophomore. He is the third boy from Saint Louis to receive the honor, joining former standout quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (2017) and Chevan Cordeiro (2018) as award recipients. 

Other past winners of the Male Distinguished Athlete Award are Joshua Terao (2014), McKenzie Milton (2015), Vavae Malepeai (2016), Lincoln Oishi (2019), Joshua Tihada (2020) and Kainoa Carvalho (2022).