Following the season-opening football victory over Arizona in August, Hawaii offensive lineman Michael Eletise walked toward the idling buses in Aloha Stadium’s North tunnel.

“I was looking at the buses, and it was just me and two new (UH) guys,” said Eletise, who thought, “‘this doesn’t seem right. There were no other (UH) football players here.’ Then Arizona started walking past me. ‘This is the wrong bus, guys.’ We didn’t get on the bus.”

To break the awkwardness, Eletise recalled, “I’m here, eating my little bento, and I said (to the Arizona players), ‘hey, you want some?’ ”

These days, Eletise is still trying to find his way. Eletise, a 2016 Kaiser High graduate, attended Arizona for three years before announcing in February he was transferring to UH. He joined the Rainbow Warriors in August.

Eletise then petitioned the NCAA for a legislative relief waiver that would enable him to play this season without redshirting. A football player usually has to redshirt a year, establishing residency at the new school, when transferring between Division I programs.

Arizona officials signed a release giving their blessing to the waiver. The NCAA denied the initial request, but was open to hearing an appeal. UH filed an appeal on Eletise’s behalf. Indications are the NCAA will issue a ruling this week, at the earliest. If approved, he could play the remainder of this season and all of next year. The Warriors will play a road game against Boise State on Saturday.

“It would be amazing for him to have that cleared and have an opportunity to play this year,” said Brian Smith, UH’s offensive coordinator and associate head coach. “It would be great for our team, too. It adds another great depth to that group.”

As a Kaiser senior, Eletise was a consensus 4-star prospect. ESPN rated Eletise as the nation’s ninth-best offensive tackle. Eletise played both guard positions at Arizona. At 6 feet 4 and 340 pounds, Eletise was practicing as the top understudy to UH left guard J.R. Hensley until a week ago, when he was assigned to the scout-team offense.

“Which is what I wanted to do,” Eletise said of practicing against the Warriors’ No. 1 defense. “If I’m not playing at the moment, I can still watch film and study the opponents. But when it comes to practices, I can’t really do anything to help the team if I’m on the (top) offensive side because I’m not really playing. (Playing on the scout team is) good because I get to go against the 1s every day. It helps me get better, and I can help them get better.”

While awaiting the NCAA ruling, Eletise said he is enjoying being back in Hawaii.

“I got back into my home church,” said Eletise, whose parents are pastors at Kaimuki Christian Church. “I’ve been helping my mom and dad out at work. I’ve got friends from my high school and childhood who are athletes here. One of my tutors (Keith Jones II) was my old teammate at Kaiser. I walked in, and we were talking, chatting it up. I’m having fun.”