He was named after a prominent former NFL quarterback with the same name (no relation).
His brother, Dillon, will officially become one during next week's NFL Draft.
But when it comes to carving his own path, Roman Gabriel is on his way to doing so on the basketball court. The Mililani High School senior recently signed with Bushnell University, an NAIA school in Eugene, Ore.
Following a standout senior season with the Trojans, Gabriel was named ScoringLive's OIA West Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points per game. The 6-foot-3 guard took a visit to Bushnell in March, earning an offer from the Beacons. He signed on Tuesday at Mililani with his family in attendance, joining rare company among Hawai‘i prep basketball players that latch on with a college team straight out of high school.
"Just feeling super blessed," Gabriel told Aloha State Daily after signing with Bushnell. "Not a lot of high school hoopers from Hawai‘i get an opportunity and chance to play at the next level. Just super grateful, proud of the work I put in, but also excited for the new chapter, and now it's time to work and get after it. So, super excited and relieved."
Roman Gabriel is the son of Garrett Gabriel, who was an All-State football and basketball player in high school, suiting up for Pac-Five on the gridiron and Maryknoll on the hardwood. He went on to play quarterback for the University of Hawai‘i football team from 1987 to 1990. If there's anyone who understands and envies Roman Gabriel's basketball journey, it's his father.
"Everybody knows that basketball is my first love," Garrett Gabriel said, "but I ended up playing football."
Garrett and Dori named their three sons after NFL players: Garrison (named after Garrison Hearst), Dillon (named after Corey Dillon) and Roman. Each son excelled in a different sport: Garrison Gabriel was an All-OIA libero for the Moanalua volleyball team, while Dillon set the state's passing yardage record for Mililani before playing collegiately for UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon. He is a projected Day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, which begins on April 24.
"It's pretty special, all the different sports each of them got to experience, winning a OIA championship. The sports aspect of our lives has been fun," Garrett Gabriel said. "We were raised that way, me and my wife, always at ballparks and gymnasiums and so it's just a continuous thing that's going to be there for us because, again, we love it, and that's been part of our lives."
Bushnell University, formerly known as Northwest Christian University, is located just a mile away from the University of Oregon, where Dillon Gabriel became a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2024. During the college football season, Roman Gabriel was in attendance for three Oregon home games. He initially didn't know how close Bushnell was to UO, but he says by the time he gets to Eugene, he'll already have a barber and church in place.
Garrison Gabriel is currently Dillon's business manager. Last May, Dillon donated thousands of dollars worth of new equipment and Nike uniforms to various Mililani High School teams through an NIL deal.
At Mililani, Roman Gabriel played under his father, who has coached at a bevy of schools on O‘ahu, with stints at Maryknoll, Saint Louis and Radford. Garrett Gabriel previously coached Roman Gabriel at the YMCA level, but not in high school. Roman was still in middle school when Garrett got the Mililani coaching job. He knew that by the time he got to high school, he wasn't going to receive any sort of preferential treatment.
"I got pushed really hard not just on the court, but off the court too," Roman Gabriel recalled. "I was held to really high expectations. I think that's going to carry over for me pretty nicely in college. Being coached super hard, that's going to be nothing new to me. And as far as pushing myself and holding myself to a high standard, I think that's super important, and being a great teammate to others whether or not I see the court."
Added Garrett Gabriel: "It definitely wasn't easy for him, because my expectations for him were different than the other kids on the team. The expectations of doing things the right way, not getting anything handed to you. And nothing was ever handed to him. He started off as a JV player, so I think that made him even more hungry, having him just fight through the process and then understanding some adversities.
"But because he's such a mild-mannered kid, you can't ask for a better person in terms of character and just personality, loving, caring, so that part, I'm proud of how he handled himself. ... More credit to him, because he put in the work."
Roman Gabriel's love for basketball began as an elementary schooler at Holy Family Academy, the same school UH women's basketball standout Lily Wahinekapu and her sister, Jovi attended. It became evident to him that he had the potential to play college basketball as a freshman in high school, which is when he started to spend more time in the weight room and contact potential schools.
Garrett Gabriel believes his son made the made the biggest jump in his game between his junior and senior year. For his part, he made sure not to typecast Roman as a post player, which at times can be the default position for a player taller than 6 feet at the high school level in Hawai‘i. At Bushnell, Gabriel is projected to be a shooting guard.
Happy times are ahead for the Gabriel family, as Roman's signing in Tuesday will be followed by the reveal of Dillon's NFL destination next week.
"It's going to be a big year for the Gabriels, so we're super excited," Roman Gabriel said. "It's going to be a huge year of change. Change can be nerve-racking, but it's also going to be very exciting. My mom and dad, they love us and we're a super supportive family. I'm going to be there for Dillon and he's going to be there for me."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
