Hicks ready to hit the field running

On an overcast Wednesday morning, Hawaii football player Kalen Hicks felt he had weathered a personal storm.

For the first time this preseason, the Rainbow Warriors divided practice between rotation players and scouts who were simulating UMass, the Aug. 26 opening opponent. Hicks was on the rotation side as the No. 2 rover, a linebacker-safety hybrid.

“I’m feeling good now,” said Hicks, who is beginning his second year in Manoa.

Hicks, who was raised in Las Vegas, understands that hard luck built his hometown. It was a lesson learned as he entered his senior year at Bishop Gorman High, a national football power. He suffered a torn ACL in his right knee before the 2015 opener. After that, his college scholarship offers dwindled to zip.

“A lot of schools didn’t want me anymore,” Hicks said. “They didn’t even talk to me anymore after I tore my ACL. I didn’t get anything.”

Legi Suiaunoa, who was the Warriors’ defensive line coach at the time, was recruiting Hicks’ teammate, linebacker Ikem Okeke. Bishop Gorman assistant coach Chris Brown, a former UH linebacker, put in a good word for Hicks. Okeke signed with the Warriors. Hicks, who did not play his entire senior season while recovering, accepted an invitation to join as a preferred walk-on.

Kevin Lempa, who was UH’s defensive coordinator last year, had wanted to redshirt Hicks, who was held out of the first seven games. But when safety Trayvon Henderson suffered an ailment that would limit him from playing on special teams, Hicks was activated.

Hicks played in three games before suffering yet another injury to his right ACL. “That was hard,” Hicks said. “I knew it would be a major setback for me. But I had been through the process once, so going through it again would be easier.”

The offseason surgery kept Hicks from participating in spring training in late February and March. But under strength/conditioning coordinator Bubba Reynolds, Hicks eventually increased his offseason workouts. He was running sprints and going through agility drills this summer.

Ahead of schedule, Hicks received blessings from his doctors to participate in training camp. “I’m fully ready to go,” Hicks said. “It’s good to be back on the field. It’s been too long.”

Suiaunoa was promoted to defensive coordinator when Lempa resigned to accept a job at Michigan. Suiaunoa added a rover position to the defensive menu. Okeke and Hicks can play that position in sub-packages. The former high school teammates are now roommates.

Hicks gets along well with his teammates, although he admitted it was a little awkward when Bishop Gorman played Kahuku in Las Vegas last year. There are four Red Raider graduates on the UH roster. “We beat them,” he said of his alma mater’s victory. “I had a lot of eyes on me.”