A few years removed from electrifying the high school football scene at Kahuku, Kainoa "Kaikai" Carvalho was hoping for a different reintroduction.
In July, the latest edition of EA Sports' College Football video game franchise was released, the first time Carvalho was set to be featured in the game. When he saw himself in the game, he couldn't believe it. Not in a good way.
An image of Carvalho appeared to show the 5-foot-6, 165-pound University of Hawai‘i slot receiver with a comically large head. Despite the inaccuracy, Carvalho laughed it off and reposted it on his TikTok account, amassing hundreds of thousands of views.
"I thought it was just funny. I've seen so many funny comments on it online, and some random people stop by and they're like, 'Hey, you're the EA character guy.' It's fun," Carvalho told Aloha State Daily. "It's good to be in a game that I grew up playing, and I think it was just funny and it was a good conversation starter for a lot of people that saw me and it's fun to joke around with the guys."
In exchange for the use of his name, image and likeness, Carvalho was paid $1,500 by EA Sports, along with a free copy of the game. "Still not a bad deal," Carvlaho says of the extra cash, but he hopes EA can make some updates soon.
"I hope that EA saw it and will update my character, but I haven't heard anything from EA, and this is my shoutout to EA that hopefully they can update the picture," Carvalho said.
On the field, Carvalho's game has been no joke. As a junior at Kahuku High School, he was the 2021 consensus Hawai‘i state player of the year after scoring 12 touchdowns on offense and five on special teams. He signed with the University of Utah following his senior season, then went on a two-year mission in Hokkaido, Japan. By the time he returned, the Utes reshuffled their offensive coaching staff, and Carvalho decided to sign with Hawai‘i instead.
In 2025, Carvalho appeared briefly in two games as he nursed a hamstring injury. During practices, he was mostly seen working on the side with UH strength coach Bobby Thomas.
"It's all part of the process. Taking two years off, it's a lot to just get right back into the fire," said Carvalho, who ran routes in the morning during his mission in Japan in an attempt to stay sharp. "I had really great mentors like Pofele Ashlock, Nick Cencale, playing a huge role in me just getting to know the offense, understand the offense. Me and Titan (Lacaden) were young bucks last year, and just taking this step now that we can hopefully make a bigger impact on the offense."
All camp, Carvalho has been one of the standout performers, impressing with his ability to get open and make challenging catches, even if a ball is underthrown or a defender is draped on him.
"Just getting used to my body again, and I feel bigger, faster, stronger. We have those (Kinexon) trackers on us now, and so you know the speed's getting there," Carvalho said. "I increased a couple of my numbers in the weight room, and so it's a huge testament to what Bobby Thomas has done with us in the offseason."
In assessing Hawai‘i's receiver room prior to the 2026 season opener at Stanford on Saturday, UH receivers coach Jared Ursua agreed that he has quite a few players cut from the same cloth as Carvalho heading into the season: local high school star from the Islands, sure-handed receiver, not the tallest in height but the type of gritty player that resonates with fans. Particularly in UH's slot receiver rotation, the Rainbow Warriors have Carvalho, Lacaden, Waipahu's Tama Uiliata and Kamehameha's Blaze Kamoku to name a few.
"It just shows what this team is about," Carvalho said. "We want to stay home and we want to build this culture and this team up and just send a message that the best players can play at Hawai‘i and we can put Hawai‘i on the map."
Added Ursua: "Tight group, very close. They enjoy one another. The (local high school football) banter never stops. They're just constantly on each other. ... They're just a very close group. They're connected. I think they love each other for how much work they've put in, but they also appreciate each other for how much they're pushing one another because they've always respected each other and competed."
As for the slot receiver group and the position as a whole, Hawai‘i head coach Timmy Chang announced on the first day of fall camp that star receiver Pofele Ashlock was working his way back from injury. When asked about Ashlock's status heading into the Stanford game, Ursua says he's "flying around, he's moving, he's well ahead of schedule. ... I hope that Stanford's safeties are ready for him because he might just pop up."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
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