A well-regarded safety is in the University of Hawaii football team’s future.
Makana Meyer, a Mililani senior, has accepted a 2023 scholarship offer from the Rainbow Warriors.
Meyer said he intends to enroll at UH as a part-time student in the fall, then join the Warriors next January. Although he has played on both sides of the ball, Meyer is projected to compete at safety for the Warriors.
Meyer was a two-way player for Damien before transferring to Mililani. “I wanted to play up in a division,” Meyer said, referencing Mililani’s Open Division status. “I loved it.”
Meyer was named to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s 2021 All-State second team as a defensive back. He also was chosen to the OIA Open Division’s first team.
Meyer said he is 6 feet, 185 pounds, and was timed at 4.5 seconds over 40 yards in last year’s Polynesian Bowl combine.
Meyer said he grew up as a UH fan, and listed former Warriors safety Leonard Peters as among his role models. Similar to Peters, Meyer has long hair.
Meyer has ties to the Warriors and new head coach Timmy Chang. Meyer’s great-grandfather was a running back for UH in the late 1930s. Meyer’s elder brother Kalei was an offensive lineman for four seasons at Nevada. In two of those years — 2017 and ’18 — Chang coached Nevada’s inside receivers and then tight ends.
Makana Meyer is nephew to the Correa brothers. Kamalei Correa, a Saint Louis School alumnus, was the Baltimore Ravens’ second-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. Haku Correa was a UH defensive lineman. La‘anui Correa, a defensive end, and Chang were UH teammates for three seasons through 2002. La‘anui Correa could bench-press nearly 500 pounds.
“I lift with my uncle La‘anui,” said Meyer, who focuses on weight training for specific athletic performance.