It was a blind date that turned into a long-lasting relationship.

Hawaii cornerback Rojesterman Farris II, who committed to the Rainbow Warriors in 2015 without taking a recruiting visit, has more career starts — 30 — than any player on the spring roster.

Farris was a senior at Coral Springs (Fla.) Charter, his third high school in four years, when he received a scholarship offer from the Warriors in January 2015. By then, the Warriors had exhausted their budget for recruiting visits. Farris said he logged on his parents’ computer, “typed in ‘University of Hawaii,’ and looked at some (images) of the facilities. I was like, man, D-1 is where I wanted to be.”

He accepted the UH offer, and a redshirt year and three seasons later, Farris has emerged as a shutdown corner and defensive leader.

It was during the 2015 training camp when cornerbacks coach Abraham Elimimian knew Farris was destined to own a corner.

“He made a smart play where there was not enough instruction for a first-year guy to understand that,” Elimimian recalled. “But he made the play. I remember telling the veteran guys, ‘Here’s a guy from Florida that just picked up this concept his very first year. Not only is this guy athletic, he can understand concepts.’ ”

Farris has embraced the cornerback’s goal of making backward progress.

Playing cornerback “is not natural,” said Elimimian, who did not relinquish a scoring reception as a UH cornerback in 2001. “You’re moving backward. What we try to do is make it natural for (cornerbacks) with a lot of repetition. We’re repeating the movements in a certain way in practice so they can do them in games.”

Farris has learned how to read a receiver’s hip movements and footwork to determine which routes to defend. A corner has “a different mentality than a receiver,” Farris said. “You have to be more aggressive. You have to have that real dog mentality. You can’t let the guy across from you beat you. You’re already at a disadvantage playing corner. I’m (running) backwards and he’s running forward. He knows where he’s going to go. It’s not a guessing game. It’s an awareness-feel thing.”

Elimiman has implored his cornerbacks to maintain the same level of focus and technique an entire game. There was a lapse in last season’s opener after the Warriors surged to a 37-7 lead. Colorado State closed to 37-27 before UH prevailed 43-34.

“If your mentality is telling you you’re tired, you’re going to listen to it or not,” Farris said. “You can be physically tired, but if your mentality is telling you, ‘you’re good,’ you’ll be all right.”

Farris said he has built stamina running extra sprints. During drills, he will chase the ballcarrier even if he is on the opposite side of the field.

Last season, Farris played every defensive down in a five-overtime victory against San Jose State. He also was the defender on San Diego State’s failed 2-point conversion in overtime.

“He’s a special player,” Elimimian said of the cornerback nicknamed “Roe Block.”

How unique? His grandmother created the composition, Rojesterman, from the names Roy, Jeff, Terry and Sherman. Farris said he and his father, “100 percent, we’re the only Rojestermans in the world.”