Recruiting Hawaii in this recruiting cycle wasn’t first-year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly’s idea.

That he eventually ended up doing so and plucking Kahuku High defensive end standout Kona Schwenke at the 11th hour (and at the greatest position of need, no less) shows how Kelly can think on his feet and isn’t afraid to listen to the voices around him.

“I think it was more about Roby (Toma) and Manti Te’o, that connection, more than anything else,” Kelly acknowledged.

Toma, Te’o and now Schwenke, who incidentally got off the plane in shorts for his Jan. 29 recruiting visit to South Bend, are the start of what could now turn into a lasting relationship with the nation’s 50th state.

Toma was a solid backup wide receiver during his freshman season with the Irish in 2009. Te’o is ND’s most celebrated defensive recruit of the post-Lou Holtz Era (1997-present) and easily lived up to expectations as a freshman linebacker in ’09.

“Charlie Weis was a great recruiter,” CBS College Sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said of the deposed Irish head coach. “But I think he made a mistake by not following up this year in Hawaii after landing the greatest and most-heralded high school player in Hawaiian history.

“Hawaii is untapped territory, and per capita is the best state in the country for football talent. The people in Hawaii are exceptionally polite, big-hearted people that will give you 100 percent all the time. They’re perfect Notre Dame people. Why not hit Hawaii more?”

Kelly doesn’t have to ask himself that question again. With ND having extracted the top player in the state for two seasons in a row, assistant coach Mike Denbrock’s West Coast recruiting territory just expanded.

“I think that Mike Denbrock is the kind of guy who can keep that pipeline going and open it wide over the next three years,” Lemming said.

So who’s the No. 1 player in Hawaii in next year’s recruiting crop?

Lemming points to Paulay Asiata, a 6-5, 290-pound offensive guard/tackle from Word of Life Academy in Honolulu.

In the same tier is quarterback Marcus Mariota, a 6-3, 175-pounder who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. He attends Catholic high school St. Louis in Honolulu. Also, at ND’s position of need, there’s 6-4, 240-pound defensive end Koa Ka’ai from Kamehameha High School in Honolulu.

The other elite juniors per Lemming are 6-1, 190-pound safety Peni Vea from Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona and Tavita Tonga, a 6-3, 300-pound guard from Schwenke’s high school - Kahuku.

While in Hawaii this winter, Lemming also stumbled across another impressive defensive end - 6-6, 220-pound Canton Kaumatule - who as it turns out is an eighth-grader at Kapolei Middle School in Aliamanu.

“He could be the next Manti Te’o,” Lemming said.

Four recruits who committed to ND when Weis was the head coach ended up signing elsewhere Wednesday.

While Kelly didn’t have to deal much with other schools poaching his verbal commitments at previous coaching stops Cincinnati, Central Michigan and Grand Valley State, he learned very quickly to play by the new rules.

Eight of Kelly’s 23 signees - more than a third of the class - switched their commitment from another school.

Safety Chris Badger, wide receiver Tai-ler Jones and offensive lineman Tate Nichols came over from Stanford; defensive tackle Louis Nix from Miami (Fla.), multi-position athletes Danny Spond from Colorado and Derek Roback from Toledo, defensive end Schwenke from BYU and quarterback Luke Massa from Kelly’s old school, Cincinnati.

In the case of Massa, Kelly would not have pursued him as the class’ third quarterback had there been any resistance from Cincinnati.

“Once it was handled in the right manner in terms of communicating with Cincinnati - I spoke with (new UC coach) Butch Jones directly about it - there was such a desire by Luke to want to be at the University of Notre Dame, that we decided to go in that direction.”

Kelly didn’t embrace early enrollment at Cincinnati, but he sure is at ND.

Five players in this recruiting class enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice. Eleven players total had walked through the early-entry door Weis kicked down in 2006, but arguably only quarterback Jimmy Clausen (2007), offensive guard Trevor Robinson (2008) and safety Zeke Motta (2009) overtly benefited from it on the field.

Kelly sees the process differently.

“The midyear enrollment takes the place of potential redshirts,” he said. “It allows them to compete as freshmen. I’ve always felt with freshmen, it’s almost better when they play. When you redshirt them, they’re not used to that. It’s important to keep (freshmen) engaged.

“I’ll give you an example — (running back) Cierre Wood last year. He had a hard time not playing as a true freshman. He is doing much better knowing now he’s going to play. He’s got a routine. And I think that’s important for those freshmen, to get them in a good routine.”