Making a ‘sacrifice’ to play for Boise State, this player returns to family at Hawaii

Boise State’s homecoming game may have been last week, but redshirt senior safety Kaonohi Kaniho’s is still to come.

Kaniho, the younger brother of former Bronco nickel back Kekaula Kaniho, has lived in Boise since arriving in 2020 as a freshman.

But before pulling on the blue and orange, he was a kid from Kahuku, Hawaii, about an hour’s drive from Honolulu on the island of Oahu. He was a fan of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and spent his early years cheering on Hawaii all-time-great quarterback Colt Brennan.

Now, for the first time since leaving his boyhood home, Kaniho (KAY-oh-NO-hee kah-NEE-ho) will play in front of a packed house of Hawaii residents this weekend.

Boise State (5-1, 1-0 Mountain West) left for Hawaii on Thursday morning to face the Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-1 Mountain West) on Saturday evening. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. in Hawaii, 9 p.m. in Idaho.

Kaniho’s freshman year coincided with the last time the Broncos traveled to Hawaii. Because it was during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, fans weren’t allowed in the stadium. Saturday will be Kaniho’s first game back home in front of fans.

“Super excited for the opportunity to play in front of 70-plus family members again, just like high school days,” Kaniho told reporters on Wednesday.

And it’s not just old friends and family he’ll get to see. Kaniho has a 5-year-old daughter, Teavana, whom he doesn’t see as much as he’d like because of his commitments with Boise State. Kaniho typically gets to go home twice a year — at the end of the season and in May, when he gets about three weeks before returning to the mainland.

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said the players will have a few hours to enjoy the sun and beach before game day. Kaniho expects to spend any free hours with family.

“I’m for sure going to use those two hours you get on Thursday and Friday nights to make the most of my time with them,” Kaniho said. “It’s a business trip at the end of the day, so just kind of getting off my feet and getting a little refreshing start to be with those guys.”

Danielson said he respects Kaniho’s decisions to go to college and play football.

“His life, especially as a father, is very different than a lot of our other football players,” Danielson said.

“It’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make, because he knows he’s betting on the long term,” Danielson continued. “He’s getting his degree. He’s working his tail off to be a part of this football team and help us. He knows long term that he’s going to be able to take care of his family the right way.”

Junior defensive tackle Braxton Fely will also play in front of family this weekend. Fely has lived in Utah for most of his life but spent a couple of months living in Hawaii and has plenty of family there. He said all of his father’s side of the family lives in Hawaii, and 50 to 60 family members will attend the game.

“It’s exciting, of course, going back to Hawaii, where all my family is,” Fely said. “But it’s a business trip, first of all. It’s not a vacation. We’re there to get a job done, and that’s to go win.”

Boise State’s connection with Hawaii

Kaniho and Fely aren’t the only Broncos with Hawaiian roots in recent memory.

Bringing in talented players from Hawaii was a cornerstone of Lyle Smith’s years at Boise State. Smith coached from 1947 to 1950 and from 1952 to 1967. He was athletic director from 1968 to 1981.

The likes of David Hughes, Lenny Chow and Rocky Lima all hail from Hawaii and played for the Broncos while Smith was at the school. Former defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen also called Hawaii home before arriving in Boise in the 1990s and eventually heading to the NFL via the 1994 NFL Draft. He went on to spend the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The flow of Hawaiian players has slowed to a trickle in recent years, but Boise State defensive coordinator Erik Chinander still sees the value in scouting players from the Islands.

“When you’re on the West Coast, you almost treat that like an in-state recruiting area, because there are a lot of guys that want to get to the mainland for a little bit,” Chinander said.

Kaniho said he picked Boise State not only because his brother played here from 2017 to 2021, but because it reminded him of home.

“Everyone’s super family-oriented, and it’s all about football here, just like it is in Hawaii,” he said. “I think that’s a big draw for kids coming from Hawaii that want to come up here.”

Hawaii vs. Boise State

When: 9 p.m. Mountain time Saturday

Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (15,194, Turf)

TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin)

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 113 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 4-1; Hawaii 2-3

Series: Boise State leads the series 15-3

Vegas line: Boise State by 21 points

Weather: High of 86, low of 75, humidity 60%, partly cloudy skies, 6% chance of rain