Even the most imaginative casting director would find it challenging to assemble the diverse "Freak Show."
The University of Hawaii football team’s wide receivers — known as the "Freak Show" — have produced breakout performances the past two practices of training camp.
"It’s been great to work with them," said Luke Matthews, a graduate assistant coach in charge of the receivers.
To keep pace with other schools using tall receivers and tall cornerbacks, the Rainbow Warriors made it a recruiting point to seek height for a vertical passing attack this year. They signed 6-foot-4 freshman receivers Keith Kirkwood, Marcus Kemp and Ammon Barker. Vasquez Haynes, who is 6-2, transferred from Blinn College in Texas, and Daniel Masifilo, also 6-2, transfered from Arizona State.
The newcomers blended with returnees Chris Gant, Scott Harding, Allen Sampson, Duke Bukoski and Bubba Poueu-Luna. Last year’s leading receiver, Billy Ray Stutzmann, is recovering from injuries suffered in a July 31 car crash and has yet to practice this camp.
"We’re a big family," Sampson said. "We’re competing, but we’re happy for each other. We do everything together. We watch film together. We eat ice cream together."
Kirkwood, who was raised in New Jersey, said he didn’t know what to expect when he moved to Hawaii a day after his high school graduation last month.
"When I first got here, I didn’t know anybody," Kirkwood said. "Chris Gant helped me out. Now I feel right at home."
Gant, a senior, offered advice on training, route-running and style.
"I try to bring swag to the group," Gant said, smiling. "We can’t be out there looking ugly. It’s all about how you carry yourself. My dad used to always tell me: ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.’ "
Gant coined the "Freak Show" because of the receivers’ diversity. Donnie King is 5-foot-6 and Sampson is 5-7. The receivers are from Australia, New Jersey, Florida, Utah, Texas, California and Hawaii.
Harding, who is 27, enjoys the mentor’s role.
"We have different heights, different weights, different backgrounds," said Harding, who played six years of Australian rules football before joining the Warriors in 2011. "We all fill a role."
As for the age gap, Harding said: "I listen to dance music and alternative rock. I don’t really get involved in the heavy rap music like the young guys."
Kirkwood said Harding "knows the words to all the music. He’s a good guy. I love his foreign accent."
The receivers have their own language, such as the "diamond" (the pass-catching shape made when the thumbs and index fingers touch) and ICE. ("I catch everything," Haynes said. "It’s a Texas thing.)
They have barbecues, share tips and take turns using the queen-sized bed in their rooms at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where they are training through Tuesday.
Gant said he allowed Harding to use the larger bed for the first half of the base stay, figuring it’s better to go from a small bed to a larger one. Harding’s rebuttal is: "It’s better to have it first because you have more of a chance to keep the bed."
Matthews said he had an easy adjustment from being a receiver for Utah last year to coaching the UH receivers this year. Matthews took over the position after offensive coordinator Aaron Price was fired a couple of days before the start of training camp.
"From the start, they welcomed me," Matthews said. "I listen to what they tell me. I told them I didn’t want it to be a thing where I’m always telling them stuff. I want to have open lines of communication so they feel comfortable making suggestions."
Matthews, in essence, is successor to Ashley Lelie, a former UH and NFL receiver who was a student assistant last year. Lelie is now a graduate assistant at Nevada.
"I never came in and tried to be somebody who was here before me," Matthews said. "I try to bring my own coaching style. I want to be me, and hope the guys appreciate how I come out here ready to go every day."
