The University of Hawaii football team conducted a talent show for rookies on Sunday night, but the big winners were two veteran players. 

During the event, UH coach Norm Chow awarded scholarships to wideout Duke Bukoski and running back Pereese Joas. 

Bukoski, a Saint Louis School graduate, relinquished a football scholarship to transfer from Idaho State three years ago and join the Warriors as a walk-on. 

“It’s a big relief,” Bukoski said. “It’s a big help financially.”

Joas, who was raised in Texas, traveled to Hawaii with only a backpack full of workout clothes to enroll at UH with the intent of trying out for the Warriors in January 2013. He made the team, but at the end of the semester, his financial aid expired. He was homeless for about a month, surviving on energy bars and water, until his financial aid was reinstated. Joas did not have enough college credits to play in 2013. He rejoined the Warriors in July 2014. 

Neither player is a starter. 

“It’s not all about playing,” Chow said of the scholarship criteria. “It’s about the commitment and the work that they do and the help that they give us during practice.”

The NCAA limits Football Bowl Subdivision teams to 85 scholarships. 

“It’s hard because there’s a puzzle that has to be dealt with when you only have X amount of scholarships,” Chow said. “You just don’t have enough.”

Chow has awarded about 20 scholarships to walk-ons since becoming UH’s head coach in 2012. 

“It’s truly a blessing,” Joas said. “I thank everybody for believing in me.”