Following in his families’ footsteps.

Kahuku standout Kaimana Carvalho made his commitment to continue his football career at the University of Utah Friday afternoon at the Ko’olau Plantation Estate in Ka’a’awa.

Carvalho, who earned Defensive Player of the Year honors last season after making the move from receiver to safety, will attend the school where father Stewart played his collegiate career at in the late 1990s. Older brother Kainoa “Kaikai” will also play there in the 2025 season after completing a two-year church mission.

“Utah is a special place for me and my family,” said Carvalho. “I have one of my brothers that’s committed there, my cousin is committed there, he’s on his mission in Tonga right now and then his brother too is a walk-on there so the bloodline is strong for us.”

Utah won the services of Carvalho over the likes of Arizona, Boise State and Nevada. Ultimately, blood is thicker than water.

“It wasn’t that easy, it was kind of hard,” said Carvalho. “I love all the schools, the coaching staffs. They’re great people, but when it came down to it, the needs I wanted was having family, having that Polynesian culture around me and Utah had the best fit having my brothers and people that live just right down the road from me, from my house, so it was a blessing to have those people there and making it easier for me.”

Head coach Kyle Whittingham and the rest of the Utes’ coaching staff also made Carvalho feel wanted.

“Being on the recruiting visit and seeing how the coaches value me over some other people, it meant something to me so that’s why I felt like it was home.”

Carvalho, who sees himself playing at safety and in the return game, is excited for a chance to help the Utes win a national championship as they make the move from the Pac-12 conference to the BIG 12.

“I’m really excited, especially since they expanded the playoffs for twelve teams,” he said. “It’ll give us a better shot to make the playoffs. I’m just trying to go there, find a starting job either special teams or defense and go for that ‘natty.”

The class of 2025 Kahuku standout plans to graduate high school early and enroll in January.

The Hawai’i-to-Cal pipeline continues.

Kahuku defensive back Aiden Manutai became the third Hawai’i high school football player in the class of 2025 to make a commitment to play for the University of California, Berkeley, when he made his decision known at a live-streamed event at the Ko’olau Plantation Estate in Ka’a’awa Friday afternoon.

Manutai will join fellow Red Raider Lebron Williams, an edge rusher, and Campbell quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele, who made his commitment last Monday, in this recruiting class cycle.

“Jaron and Lebron played a huge part in my commitment,” said Manutai. “I didn’t want to go (somewhere with) people who weren’t in the same mindset (as me). I know they have the same goal, same mindset. I met some of the other recruits before so they had the same (mindset) so that kind of made me make the commitment to Cal.”

The Golden Bears started to become a finalist for Manutai in March. They were in Manutai’s list of top five schools that included Arizona, Nebraska, Tennessee and Washington.

“We took an unofficial (visit) in March. I loved the environment, the vibes around there so I told my parents I wanted to take an official (visit) and come back to Cal and we went from there. Met the coaches, the whole coaching staff and from there it was just a family environment so I felt like that was the place I needed to be,” Manutai said.

Manutai added that his commitment was a huge relief off of his shoulders as he can now focus on helping the Red Raiders repeat as Open Division state champions.

“Very happy and grateful for everybody that’s here and the opportunity,” he said. “I’m glad to get this off and focus on winning another state championship.”

Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 330 pounds, Abel Hoopii will be a seamless fit in the state where everything is bigger.

The Farrington offensive lineman will be playing his collegiate career in the state of Texas after making a commitment to play for Southern Methodist University next year in a live-streamed event at Skippa Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field before a crowd of about 50 Monday afternoon.

“It’s feeling real good,” Hoopii said. “Me and my family, we’ve been stressing every single day on where I think I will go, but it’s been a good journey, God is good.”

The SMU Mustangs earned Hoopii’s commitment over a list of top four schools that included Hawai’i, San Jose State and the University of Texas at San Antonio. 

“I think it was the coaching staff. We went down to pros and cons. We did all those stuff and it felt like home over there,” Hoopii said of the Dallas-based university. “They’re trying to get a Polynesian starting five (on the offensive line), so let’s do it.”

Hoopii added that his decision wasn’t made until the day of his commitment event.

“I was up till 5 a.m. last night because I couldn’t sleep and I had to go to summer school,” he said. “It went down till today actually, because I really wanted to… I had a vision of me staying home (and play for Hawai’i) and all that stuff, but I know if I moved out there to SMU, I would have better opportunities and hopefully make it to the NFL if that’s what God has for me.

“The place is so beautiful and Dallas, Texas… everything is bigger in Texas and being from such a small island, more bigger places and bigger things to do out there.”

It’s been a whirlwind journey for Hoopii, who helped Kahuku win a state title last fall before transferring to Farrington in the offseason. Hoopii also boosted his recruiting stock in the offseason through hard work at various national events.

Being able to provide a better life for his family has been a driving motivator for Hoopii.

“Getting to this moment, the hard work and that I just kept thinking and thinking that I have to get my family off this island. My mom, she’s always been with me. Since my dad left us when I was younger, my mom, she’s always been working hard trying to feed me and my brothers. I’m just trying to make sure she’s good nowadays. Retire her hopefully.”