A member of a prominent football family will join the University of Hawaii’s quarterback competition this summer.
Shawn “Kamali‘i” Akina said he will join the Rainbow Warriors shortly after completing work on his associate’s degree from College of San Mateo in May.
He is the youngest son of Duane Akina, a Punahou graduate and former assistant coach at UH. Duane Akina, who played quarterback at Washington, also helped implement the “Desert Swarm” defense at Arizona and served as co-defensive coordinator at Texas. He has been Stanford’s defensive backs coach since 2014.
Kamali‘i Akina is named after his father’s youngest brother, who died of a heart ailment in 1986, at age 19, at the University of Utah, where he was set to play quarterback. In his memory, the Shawn Akina Classic was created. For several years, that football doubleheader matched top teams from the mainland and Hawaii.
“I started to learn more about him as I got older,” Kamali‘i Akina said of his namesake. “It’s cool to be named after him. I wish I had a chance to meet him.”
Kamali‘i Akina’s father and four uncles were standout prep quarterbacks. His two older brothers also were quarterbacks — Kainoa Akina at UH, and Keoni Akina at Northern Arizona and then Cal Poly.
“Because my dad coaches DBs, he wanted one of us to be on the defensive side of the ball,” Kamali‘i Akina said. “But I like to have the ball in my hands. It’s more fun that way. I’ve always been drawn to the position. Ever since flag football, I always played quarterback.”
Akina was the quarterback at Saint Francis High (Mountain View, Calif.), which ran a power-I offense. He was at Arizona State for a year before transferring to College of San Mateo. The Bulldogs relied mostly on the run-pass option, a key element of the Rainbow Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense. Former UH quarterback Dru Brown is a San Mateo alumnus.
The Warriors have three quarterbacks on the spring roster — Cole McDonald, Chevan Cordeiro and Justin Uahinui. They signed quarterbacks Boone Abbott and Zach Daniel to the 2019 recruiting class. The Warriors’ first practice of spring training is March 29.
