In 2022, the University of Hawai‘i football team's new coaching staff had no choice but to be patient in building the program from a recruiting standpoint. A mass exodus under former head coach Todd Graham rendered UH's roster depleted.
By the time Timmy Chang opened his first fall camp as the head coach of his alma mater, the Rainbow Warriors had 53 newcomers on their roster. Chang's staff searched far and wide for their first official recruiting class, taking some chances on players viewed as projects. Though not pursued by other Division I programs, UH coaches saw the potential in certain prospects.
Ahead of the 2025 season, that patience has paid off for Hawai‘i. A bevy of lightly recruited players have gone on to become major contributors for UH over the years, but perhaps no unit has exemplified that more than the Rainbow Warrior receivers.
Receivers Pofele Ashlock and Nick Cencale were selected to the Mountain West preseason team in July, representing two of the three receivers voted on as the best in the 12-team conference entering the 2025 season. Hawai‘i, which joined the Mountain West in 2012 as a football-only member, never had more than one offensive player on the preseason All-MW team prior to 2025. Ashlock and Cenacle both entered the program as true freshmen in 2022, making steady progress each year under position coach Jared Ursua.
"That's a tribute to their hard work. That's a tribute to coach Chang and what he's built. That was a decision we made four years ago on guys that at one point nobody wanted," Ursua told Aloha State Daily of Ashlock and Cenacle's preseason accolades. "I'm just happy for them. It's a fun little thing to build some excitement right now, but the real work's got to get done. And being a five-win team the last two years, we've got things we've got to improve upon. And so I love their attitude and them taking on a different leadership role, Pofele growing into a multi-year guy and Nick being a senior, they've really stepped up and done a great job."
Cenacle, who was born and raised in Canada, grew up playing the Canadian version of football, which features 12 players on each side of the ball instead of 11 and a slightly wider and longer field. Although there was a slight learning curve playing gridiron football, he saw immediate playing time as a true freshman.
Cencale scored one touchdown and had 351 receiving yards combined as a freshman and sophomore. His true breakout came as a junior in 2024, hauling in 63 receptions for a team-high 721 yards and six touchdowns. Following the season, he entered the transfer portal and attracted interest from multiple Power Four programs. With his heart still in Hawai‘i, he withdrew from the portal and decided to return for his senior year.
"The receiver group is just playmakers across the board, from top to bottom, just all playmakers. We're all hungry," Cenacle said. "We're all just hungry to pull ourselves and hungry to take that next step as a whole group together, from top to bottom. This is an amazing group of guys. We're all chill with each other outside the facility, which is awesome."
Ashlock, who didn't receive any Division I offers until Hawai‘i came calling, redshirted in 2022 but became an impact player the moment he stepped on the field, earning freshman All-American honors in 2023 after leading all FBS freshman in receiving yards (832) and receptions (83).
"I don't like all the attention on me, because it's not only me," Ashlock said at Mountain West media days. "It's just a whole testament to everything that's going on right now, because it just shows how much we've really worked and we really came a long way. It's been amazing. I'm really blessed that and now it's time to go get the postseason awards."
While Cenacle and Ashlock are the veterans and established impact players in the group, former walk-on and Lahaina native Karsyn Pupunu is viewed as a breakout candidate after earning a scholarship over the offseason.
Although the Rainbow Warriors lost starting receiver Dekel Crowdus to Wisconsin, the 'Bows reloaded their receiving corps with five transfers in Koa Eldredge (BYU), Jackson Harris (Stanford), Max Ware (Arizona State), Joey Farthing (Youngstown State) and Brandon White (Kentucky).
"I think the conference recognizes that we have some pretty good guys, and they were developed for three years now going into our fourth year," Chang said. "Those guys are a good room, and whether they've been here for three years going on four, or they just got here, they're all intentful about trying to get better and that's what we want. They got the physical abilities. Now we just got to go out there and make some plays."
Hawai‘i opens its 2025 season against Stanford on Aug. 23, Harris' former team, which Ursua says was an instrumental part of his recruiting process. Harris started off camp sidelined with an injury but has started to ramp up his activity in recent days.
"That's how we recruited him," Ursua of Harris. "We approached the pitch on the idea that he's going to get his first shot back at them. I think he has bigger goals than that, but that was a really exciting kind of just cherry on top of things, to give him a chance to kind of go back up against them. I don't think he has ill feelings, but I think it's just exciting for him to be able to go back and challenge some of the guys that he knows very well."
After years of meticulously building, Hawai‘i's coaches have flipped a roster that now has their stamp on it. With 18 practices between the start of fall camp and their season opener, the Rainbow Warriors have trained with an increased urgency that comes with heightened expectations.
"This year, going into (camp), we kind of had a discussion. What do we want to be? And if that's what we want to be, those are championship type of standards we would have, then we need to hold ourselves accountable and we're going to do that from the very beginning," Ursua said. "And so that means when things aren't right, we'll fix it. That's how they want to be coached. That's what I've committed to them."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
