Chance Kalaugher to make switch from hoops to football

A former basketball standout has joined the University of Hawaii football team.

Chance Kalaugher, a 2016 Kaiser graduate, will participate in the Rainbow Warriors’ offseason conditioning program and spring training. He already is enrolled at UH.

Kalaugher, who is 6 feet 6 and 230 pounds, is projected to compete at defensive end. He also could be viewed as a jump-ball receiver in goal-line situations.

As a Kaiser junior and senior, Kalaugher was named to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Fab 15, an elite list of the state’s top high school basketball players. He was named to USA Today’s 2016 All-USA Hawaii first team for boys basketball.

The UH football team recruited Kalaugher as a high school senior. But he did not meet the eligibility requirements to play as an NCAA freshman. He then went to Saddleback Community College to play basketball. He said he considered playing football as a sophomore “but it didn’t work out.”

He earned an associate’s degree at Saddleback, then enrolled at UH last August.

After learning UH’s basketball roster was full, he decided to pursue football. He met with UH football coaches and was invited to join.

Kalaugher is not making a unique transition. Ikaika Alama-Francis and Nkeruwem “Tony” Akpan made successful moves from UH’s basketball team to the football team. The Detroit Lions selected Alama-Francis in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Miah Ostrowski started for both UH teams.

Kalaugher is viewed as tough, hard working and athletic (he first dunked as a ninth-grader).

Kalaugher will have two seasons of eligibility.