One of the weekly joys of this abbreviated University of Hawaii season has been watching opposing defenders try to anticipate Calvin Turner Jr.’s moves with the football and then seeing them left flailing at air.
Now, it is left to for us to wonder what Turner’s biggest upcoming move might be.
Will he take advantage of the NCAA’s eligibility waiver and return for a second “senior” season with the Rainbow Warriors in 2021? Or, will his stay in Manoa be as ephemeral as a puff of smoke?
The COVID-19 impacted 2020 season and resulting NCAA legislation has opened the door to dozens of roster questions on every campus for 2021 and Turner’s decision figures to be the biggest one hovering over UH as the Dec. 24 New Mexico Bowl matchup with Houston concludes the season.
He is leading the Warriors in receiving, kick returns, scoring and all-purpose yardage and is third in rushing, accounting for 118.62 yards and 6.2 points per games as a human Swiss Army Knife of wildcat, slotback, running back and kick returner. In the process, Turner is averaging 10.9 yards every time he touches the ball, an all-around explosiveness that recalls UH stars of the past Jeff Sydner and Chad Owens.
Ask head coach Todd Graham if he expects Turner back and his answer is a quick and unequivocal, “Why wouldn’t he?”
Pose the question to Turner and the reply after Saturday’s 38-21 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas was a measured and sincere, “I don’t know yet.”
After producing 155 all-purpose yards (55 rushing, 77 receiving and 23 in kick returns) against UNLV, not to forget a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty, Turner said, “I’m gonna talk it over with my family (in Georgia) and I’m gonna decide what I want to do. I’ll let you know very soon what I’m gonna do.” He said his timeline is a “week or two.”
The deadline for declaring for the NFL Draft is Jan. 18.
Turner came to UH through a providential turn of fate after three seasons at tiny Jacksonville (Fla.) University of the Football Championship Subdivision when the Dolphins shut down their football program after the 2019 season. JU head coach Ian Shields sought to place his quarterback on a bigger, more visible, Football Bowl Subdivision, stage with the-then Nick Rolovich run-and-shoot.
Even with the subsequent change of regimes and offenses at UH, it quickly became a priority to find a place, several in fact, for Turner’s rare abilities.
“He’s got great talent but is very raw,” Graham said Saturday. “He has grown and gotten better every single game and does a lot of things. We utilize him in a lot of different ways. I think he likes that. We’re just scratching the surface of what he can do.”
Graham said, “I think kids know. Kids know what you’re doing and what’s good for them…They know the development they need.”
While schools are permitted to retain their players like quasi free-agent transfers, overall roster management figures to be more difficult. That’s because while the NCAA gave blanket eligibility to all players — freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors — for an additional season and will allow returning seniors not to count against roster or (85-player) scholarship limits, it left the task of managing rosters and funding the scholarships and associated costs to individual schools.
For the Warriors, their most notable win might be keeping the guy who already wears jersey No. 7.
2021 UH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Non-Conference
>> Aug. 28: at UCLA
>> Sept. 11: at Oregon State
>> Sept. 25: at New Mexico State
>> Oct. 23: New Mexico State
———
Mountain West Conference (Dates TBD)
>> Colorado State
>> Fresno State
>> San Diego State
>> San Jose State
>> at Nevada
>> at Nevada-Las Vegas
>> at Utah State
>> at Wyoming
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
