It is among University of Hawai'i linebacker Solomon Elimimian's many talents that he is able to make people see stars.

Until recently, this mostly involved ball carriers who were unfortunate enough to cross his punishing path.

But in taking over the school record for tackles Saturday at 373 — and counting — Elimimian has also succeeded in bringing back into focus a star from the past, Levi Stanley, for a lot of us.

In rewriting Stanley's 35-year-old record, Elimimian has underlined the greatness of the man who set it for a generation that might know him only as a figure in the record book or a name on a Circle of Honor plaque in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Stanley was a larger- than-life legend at Honolulu Stadium in the early 1970s when, such were his exploits, that he commanded his own dedicated following. Asked by charity workers what they wished for one Christmas, a group of underprivileged kids requested not gifts or a visit by Santa Claus, but the opportunity to meet Stanley.

Folks in the Diamond Head end zone rallied around the one they called "the people's choice," wearing "Levi's Kanaka Army" T-shirts — that many proudly hold on to today — and cheering his tackles. Which meant that they were a busy lot because Stanley made 366 tackles.

That he accumulated them from the defensive tackle position hints at just how remarkable a force the 6-foot-2, 250-pounder from Wai'anae could be.

Look at any big victory during that pre-Western Athletic Conference era and chances are No. 74's meaty hands figured in there somehow. His finest hour might have been at Washington in 1973 when the Huskies were determined to play smashmouth with UH, then a lower, college division team, and suffered a 10-7 upset in the season opener.

Five times, with a crowd of 52,500 roaring in its helmet ear holes, UH stopped the Huskies on fourth down. Three times it halted UW inside the 10-yard line. This despite the Huskies running a couple of hulking power backs behind the left side of a line featuring a 6-4 guard and 6-5 tackle. Stanley had 11 unassisted tackles and five assists that day. "I think I wore out the film looking at him (Stanley) in that one," then-defensive coordinator Larry Price recalls. "He was something to behold."

It was the cast that Stanley anchored — Simeon Alo, Manny De Soto, Dexter Gomes, Jeris White, Harold Stringert and Cliff Laboy, among others — that helped burnish the defensive tradition at UH. Their success — climbing as high as No. 2 in the national college division polls in 1973 — helped provide impetus and lay the foundation for UH becoming Division I two years later.

But Stanley had an important off-the-field impact, too. He was, Price notes proudly, "our experiment." And, not just because he came to UH a raw, skinny recruit whose weight room performance became as remarkable as his game day ones.

Price and UH sought to admit to the school prospects that had not had the benefit of college prep programs but could, given a shot, make their way. And, Stanley was to be their Leeward Coast test case. When Stanley, through persistence, not only graduated but, according to Price, added a master's degree in education, it helped open the way for others. And many followed.

Stanley played two seasons for The Hawaiians of the World Football League and saw time with the San Francisco 49ers but remains linked with UH. A place where he will always be known as much more than the answer to a trivia question.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.