For Hawaii football player Kawika Borden, the trial was the easy part.

It was the 14 months of tribulations that proved to be physical and emotional obstacles.

"He kept battling and battling, and now he’s receiving a shot," UH head Greg McMackin said.

Healthy at last, Borden has earned a starting role on the kickoff and punt-return units, as well as a berth on the Warriors’ 64-player travel roster. The team departs today ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. ESPN-televised game at San Jose State.

"He earned it on the field," McMackin said. "He’s been blowing up guys on special teams. We found a spot for him."

For more than a year, Borden’s spot was in limbo. In contrast, Borden’s situation was more hopeful when he excelled during the Warriors’ walk-on trials in February 2010.

"There were 100 guys there, and he was our No. 1 guy," said associate head coach Rich Miano, who coordinated the event. "He ran 4.6 (seconds in the 40-yard dash). He’s 6 feet 1. He’s close to 200 pounds. We looked at his (Pearl City) high school films, and he’s an athlete. We talked to the coaches over there. It was a no-brainer to let him join."

But during the summer of 2010, Borden suffered a pelvic injury that affected his hips, groin and core.

"I couldn’t run for three months," Borden said.

Because of the injury, his invitation to training camp was withdrawn. It also meant he could not practice with the Warriors during the 2010 season.

"It was really hard not being able to play after being that close to playing," Borden said. "I had to be patient."

Instead, he became a patient again. He underwent surgery to remove screws and pins from a previously broken ankle. The recovery period kept him out of the past spring training.

"You don’t forget about guys like that, but you can only play who’s healthy, and he wasn’t healthy," Miano said. "We kept believing in him. We knew he was going to be a player. We just needed him to be healthy."

That finally happened the past summer. But there was no room on the training-camp roster. Miano lobbied to have Borden added on the first day of the fall semester, when the roster limits are lifted.

Borden said he volunteered for the scout units on defense and special teams.

After the Louisiana Tech game two weeks ago, the coaches reviewed videos of practices and games.

"We evaluate guys all of the time," said Dick Tomey, who coordinates special teams, "and he stepped ahead of a few guys."

What the coaches discovered was a beast of Borden. On kickoffs, he storms the inside lane. On punt returns, he is the defender assigned to busting through the shield of blockers in front of the punter.

"Now that he’s finally healthy, he’s running through wedges," Miano said. "He’s really opened up coach Tomey’s eyes on special teams."

Tomey said: "He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid. He’s made a bunch of real physical plays in the last week and a half (of practices)."