The University of Hawaii football team is making a global statement, adding a running back who was born and raised in Japan.

Genta Ito, who played the past two seasons at Santa Monica College, is joining the Rainbow Warriors this week. The Warriors report to training camp next Sunday. The first practice is Aug. 1.

“Genta is a great kid,” said Tim Kaub, who was Santa Monica’s offensive coordinator for three seasons before joining El Çamino College this year. “His football IQ is ridiculous.”

Kaub recommended Ito to UH coach Nick Rolovich.

“Rolo is a good friend of mine,” Kaub said, “and I told him: ‘That guy is going to make your offense better just because he’s going to understand it better than you do.’”

It is believed Ito will be the Warriors’ first Japanese national since UH become a full Division I member in 1975. Yasuo Yorita, a defensive back for the Warriors in 1972, spent most of his early life in Japan but attended high school in Hawaii.

Kaub said he initially was concerned when Ito asked to join Santa Monica’s football team in 2014.

“I thought the language issue would be a barrier,” Kaub said. “I didn’t know how he was going to master (the playbook). Lo and behold, by the third week of practice, he knows it better than any of my other players. … He’d be telling my quarterbacks who they’re supposed to be reading on every play. … It came to the point where we just said: ‘Ask Genta. If you don’t know what to do, ask Genta.’”

Ito had limited football experience as a Hosei Daini High student in Kanagawa. But Kaub was impressed with Ito’s strength (325-pound bench press), quickness (4.5 seconds over 40 yards) and toughness.

Ito is 5 feet 7 and 190 pounds “but he’s not a little dude,” Kaub said. “He’s very strong. He’s very shifty. His size was an advantage. When we gave him the ball, he got down so low, he was hard to see before he broke through.”

Ito earned an associate degree at Santa Monica. His grade-point average was 3.95. He will have three years to play two UH seasons.

Kaub said Ito played sparingly because of Santa Monica’s large rotation at running back. In 2014, there were nine running backs with at least 10 carries; last year, there were eight with at least 10 carries.

“Unfortunately for him, we had some really good dudes ahead of him,” Kaub said. “At the same time, he crawled his way in and carved a little niche for himself. He never complained about touches or reps. It was hard for him to get on the field, but with the reps he got, he owned the hell out of them. He never got down. He has infectious enthusiasm. He’s a competitor. He’s a little warrior.”