The University of Hawaii football team went to both a familiar Las Vegas pipeline and a mile down Waialae Avenue to add two fast and versatile players.
Two-way player Isaiah “Zay” Nickels of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas and corner/nickel Jahrn Altura of Saint Louis School said they have accepted 2026 scholarship offers from the Rainbow Warriors. Both have ties to the program.
There are eight Bishop Gorman alumni, including starting quarterback Micah Alejado, on the Warriors’ roster for the 2025-26 academic year. UH associate head coach Chris Brown and quarterbacks coach Chad Kapanui are former coaches for the Gaels. Nickels and QB1 Maika Eugenio, who announced his commitment on Saturday night, took UH-sponsored recruiting trips the past weekend.
“You see (middle linebacker) Jamih Otis, (nickelback) Elijah Palmer, Micah Alejado, you see all of them building Hawaii,” Nickels said of his commitment. “I want to be part of that. … As a Bishop Gorman player, that’s what we want. We want to play in college, especially me. I want to play as a freshman.”
Nickels’ mother lived in Pearl City until her family moved to California ahead of her sophomore year of high school. His father grew up in Las Vegas.
Nickels attended Desert Pines High as a freshman. After transferring to Bishop Gorman, he had to sit out his sophomore season. He was used a receiver, cornerback (two interceptions, nine breakups) and punt returner last year. Nickels is 5 feet 11, 165 pounds and capable of running 40 yards in 4.53 seconds.
Altura is following a childhood dream.
“I grew up as a UH fan,” Altura said. “I have an uncle (Michael Iosua) who played for UH. It was always a dream to stay home and play for the Rainbow Warriors. … I was too young to watch (Iosua) play. To hear the stories and all that was really cool.”
Altura was mostly a cornerback for state champion Saint Louis last year. This season, he will be used a cornerback, nickelback and, on occasion, safety.
In the HHSAA championships last month, Altura ran the 200-meter dash in a prelim-heat best of 21.90 seconds. He finished fourth in the 100 meters at 10.98 seconds. He said he was hand-time running the 40-yard dash in sub-4.4 seconds. “I wasn’t always fast,” he said. “It was training and hard work.”
That work discipline factored in his decision to commit to UH. Defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman and cornerbacks coach PJ Minaya are “amazing coaches. Being able to play for them and in that defense is a real blessing. It’s going to be amazing. I’m super excited to be able to learn from them.”
Eugenio said he is “excited” to reunite with Kapanui, a former Bishop Gorman quarterbacks coach whom he described as being like family.” Eugenio’s father coached Kapanui at Roosevelt High in the late 1990s.
“It’s a blessing to to continue working with someone I trust, love and respect,” Eugenio said. “I take pride in being part of the UH-t0-BG connection. Coach Brown played a a big part in my decision, as well. I love the vibe from him.”
