Ben Clarke aced his summer assignments in preparation for the tests awaiting him in his first fall camp with the Hawaii football team.

Clarke closed spring practice as the Warriors’ leading contender at center and was given a list of targets to hit in his summer training. He exceeded those goals in increasing his maximums in various lifts in the weight room while dropping his times in agility drills and pushing his playing weight up to 288.

Those efforts have helped the freshman hold his ground during drills and on the depth chart once the Warriors opened camp.

"It definitely helps to have a few more pounds on me when I’m trying to hold up that middle," said Clarke, who played at 267 during spring practice. "But I don’t know if I’d want to put any more weight on, I don’t want to get any slower."

Clarke has made a relatively quick ascent since joining the program in the spring semester.

He was recruited to UH by the coaching staff headed by Greg McMackin and was a part-time student as a grayshirt last fall. The coaching change in December left Clarke in a bit of a gray area, not certain he’d have a scholarship under the new leadership. But head coach Norm Chow honored the commitment and Clarke was included as part of his first signing class at UH.

"It was scary," Clarke said. "I didn’t really know what was going to happen going into the spring. Luckily they just left me on scholarship."

Clarke last played in a game in 2010 as a senior at Chatfield (Colo.) High School, and got his introduction to college ball in the spring when he opened practice as a backup on the offensive line. But when given a chance to work with the first unit, he managed to maintain his spot into the summer.

"I threw Ben in and Ben never looked back," UH offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan said.

"He did a great job with his body over the summer, he has a very good command of the offense, he’s got great body balance and he’s a very competitive young man."

Along with adding size and strength, Clarke wanted to improve his quickness to engage defensive tackles in the instant after delivering the snap to the quarterback.

But some of his most important duties come before he takes his stance over the ball.

"You’re directing traffic," Wiesehan said. "(The center has) got to be the glue, he has to get both sides of the line on the same page, he has to ID the (defensive) front with the quarterback and then make the calls."

Clarke is also adjusting to having a new quarterback receiving the snaps with transfer Sean Schroeder earning the starting job last week.

"All the quarterbacks handle the snap differently, so it takes time to get used to that," Clarke said.

Clarke still has quite a bit of competition for the job with sophomore Kody Afusia returning and newcomers Kapua and Kiha Sai also working at center.

Kapua Sai, a transfer from Utah, has spent most of fall camp next to Clarke at left guard but also took some snaps at center on Wednesday. Wiesehan said the coaches wanted to give Sai, who shuffled through multiple spots on the offensive line at Utah, time to settle in at guard before giving him reps at center to add depth in the middle.

"We did want to keep him static for a good period of time so he can get his feet underneath him," Wiesehan said.