Since arriving in Honolulu in July, University of Hawaii football receiver Vasquez Haynes has sprained an ankle, had pneumonia and injured his right shoulder several times.

With each ailment, Ingrid Haynes-Mays asked her son the same question: Will you still be able to go to class?

“That’s the No. 1 thing with her,” Haynes said, smiling. “She’s always telling me: ‘Make sure you go to class. You can miss practice in football if you’re hurt, but you still have to go to class.’ That’s always her concern.”

It was that way growing up as the son of two former Texas Southern basketball players who now work at their alma mater. Haynes-Mays, who has a PhD in curriculum and instruction, is an associate professor. Kevin Granger, who once led the NCAA in scoring, is an assistant athletic director.

“Both parents talked to me about the importance of grades and what it took to play at the D-I level,” Haynes said. “If I didn’t get a certain grade in a class, I had to do some type of conditioning punishment.”

Haynes recently has been getting A’s at the Z position. In the past two games, he has 11 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns. In that span, he is averaging 5.9 yards after the catch and 3.7 additional yards after initial contact. Overall, he is the Rainbow Warriors’ second-leading receiver with 20 receptions for 271 yards.

Of his post-catch yardage, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Haynes said: “I’m a pretty physical guy, I like to think. I can’t be that and then let the first guy bring me down. I have to get yards after the catch to make drives longer. I have to keep going.”

Haynes, who transferred from Blinn College in Texas, persisted despite spraining his ankle during his first unsupervised workout with UH teammates in July. In training camp, he sprained his acromialclavicular joint. He was held out of practice for a few days, came back, and aggravated the shoulder again.

Against Fresno State two weeks ago, he caught five passes for 64 yards despite feeling ill. Two days later, he was diagnosed with pneumonia-like symptoms. He was told he might miss two games. Instead, he missed two practices. He caught six passes for 128 yards against San Jose State this past weekend. In that game, he aggravated  his right shoulder when he was tackled. He returned for the next series.

“You never play a full season healthy,” Haynes said. “It’s part of football. You have to deal with it as it comes. Nothing can stop me from playing in the games.”

That drive was fostered on driveway basketball courts. Sports philosophers insist the happiest and saddest day is when a son outplays his father. Haynes and now his younger brother have beaten Granger in basketball. Still, Haynes said, “Dad doesn’t want to give up his throne.”

Haynes-Mays, meanwhile, has owned the basketball court in one-on-one games against her son.

“I can never beat my mom,” Haynes said. “She is — I don’t want to say a dirty player — but she uses her body and skills. She’ll elbow you, pinch you, use all these different moves to get her way. I’ve never beaten my mom (in basketball). I can’t beat my mom. She won’t let me.”

Then, he smiled and said: “I use my mom’s tips to help me beat (defensive backs). I thank my mom for that.”