Two longtime friends – Kalen Hicks and Ikem Okeke — are the University of Hawaii football team’s last line of defense and the top line of the depth chart.
“They have a relationship that predates them being out here,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said of the Rainbow Warriors’ No. 1 safeties. “That helps in terms of communication and such. And they’re both good kids. They both have pretty good football IQs. They’re pretty good communicators.”
Hicks and Okeke are 2016 graduates of Bishop Gorman High, a Las Vegas-based powerhouse in football. They met in middle school after Okeke moved to Las Vegas.
“We were actually playing basketball, and he joined,” Hicks recalled of their initial meeting. “He was the new kid. We’ve been friends ever since.”
As a Bishop Gorman freshman, Okeke stood nearly 6 feet. “He was bigger than everyone else,” said Hicks, who was 5-6 and 120 pounds at the time. “I had a growth spurt, and now I’m the bigger one.”
Okeke said: “When he shot up and turned to 6-3, I was kind of mad. I was wondering when I was going to hit my growth spurt. It’s crazy because his parents are the same height as mine. I’m looking at (him), ‘Why did he have to shoot up and I stayed the same height?’ ”
Okeke accepted a scholarship offer from UH, then convinced Hicks to join the Warriors as a walk-on. Nebraska and Villanova were among the schools recruiting Hicks before he suffered a torn ACL the week before Bishop Gorman’s season opener in 2015.
“I knew he could earn his way to a scholarship,” Okeke said.
Hicks suffered another tear to his right ACL as a UH freshman in 2016.
“I tried to practice through it,” Hicks said. “I didn’t believe I could go through it again. … When you take that much time off the game, it’s kind of rough. It takes its toll on you. But I was hungry. I wasn’t going to give up.”
In 2017, Hicks played in all 12 games, starting three, as the viper, a linebacker-safety hybrid. This offseason, he was awarded a football scholarship.
In December, Batoon was named defensive coordinator, replacing Legi Suiaunoa, who accepted an assistant coach’s job at Oregon State. Batoon implemented a multiple-look defense. One of the base schemes involves five defensive backs.
“We needed to have more numbers at safety,” said Batoon, who was seeking to restock the secondary following the departures of safeties Trayvon Henderson, Daniel Lewis and Keala Santiago.
It was decided to assign Hicks and Okeke, who was an outside linebacker, to safety. Both have taken the majority of reps as the No. 1 safeties this training camp.
“I’ve always played safety,” Hicks said, noting, “I’m healthy now. It’s a blessing.”
Okeke said he is embracing his new position.
“Back when I was playing linebacker, I wanted to be the fastest linebacker on the team,” Okeke said. “The next thing you know, Coach (Nick Rolovich) gave me the opportunity to move to safety with our new defense. Now I try to be the fastest safety on the team. I try to keep improving my speed so I can stay above the curve.”
During Monday’s scrimmage-like session, Okeke made an interception. He also was in the rotation at kickoff returner. “You never know,” he said. “Maybe this year I’ll get the opportunity to return kicks.”
