Lucky 13: UCLA offers scholarship to Punahou LB Kahanu Kia

Until Tuesday, Kahuku Kia had already had plenty on his plate.

With scholarship offers from nine FBS football programs and three opportunities at Ivy League schools, the Punahou linebacker was already stoked. Then UCLA called.

“Yesterday, Coach (Don) Pellum called my dad and then my dad said, answer your phone if there’s a California number. I was, that’s pretty cool. I thought it was UCLA, but I didn’t expect them to offer me. I thought they would just call to get to know me. But it was genuine and I was super excited,” Kia said on Wednesday morning.

The Bruins were well aware of Kia since last year.

“It’s super cool. I talked to them in the winter time. Their coaches came down. The inside linebackers coach (Pellum), and the outside ‘backers coach (Jason Kaufusi) came another time. I didn’t really think anything was going to happen. I got their card and that was pretty much it. I didn’t get any follow-up,” Kia recalled.

When COVID-19 caused planet earth to come to halt, Kia kept working in the weight room and on the world wide web.

“I sent my film out again at the beginning of the quarantine. He got back to me, but again I didn’t think anything would happen,” he said.

Momentum picked up recently.

“Last week, on Twitter, they would send me pictures with my name on it. Some schools have done that to me and nothing happened,” Kia said.

UCLA isn’t the first Pac-12 school to make an offer. Colorado, Utah and Washington State are in the mix.

“To me, UCLA is a national brand. Academically and athletically, everything that they’re known for, the gold and blue, it’s one of the schools you grow up hearing about. There’s a lot of (Punahou) alum that have gone on to play there,” Kia said.

At 6 feet, 2 inches and 210 pounds, Kia is a nimble, physical presence in the box. The speed and finesse of college football today have often turned outside LBs of the past into inside ‘backers in the present.

“A lot of schools I’ve been talking to have big linebacker needs. For UCLA, the defense they run, they run a 3-4 and there’s a lot of linebackers they need. They would use me as an inside linebacker. For most of the teams, inside ‘backer is what they see me playing in college,” he said.

There’s a side note about his father, Nate Kia, who wound up at Utah.

“UCLA, that’s where my dad wanted to go. It worked out great the way it turned out, though,” Kahanu Kia said.

If nothing changes, he will have a busy winter.

“I’ll probably take my visits first in December,” said Kia, who heard from Boise State last week.

His workouts at home also include his brother, Ko‘o.

“He’s going to be in eighth grade at Punahou. He plays outside ‘backer and running back. He’ll probably be a lot taller than me. It’s funny, his legs are the same (length) as mine. And his arms are the same, and he’s almost as tall as me. He’s at 5-11,” Kia said. “Oh man, he loves, loves football. He can talk for days about football. College, NFL, high school, Madden. Him and my cousin, Tua (Fano) will talk for hours about football.”

Lockdown staples

Top 3 foods/snacks

1. Smoothies (strawberry banana) with protein shake, banana, strawberries, cabbage and milk. I mix this in my Vitamix blender.

2. Leftovers.

Total offers: 13

(chronological order)

Utah 9/14/19

*Washington State 10/28/19 (before Coach Mike Leach left)

Colorado 1/21/20

Washington State 1/27/20 (re-offer by new coach Nick Rolovich)

Princeton 2/12/20

Dartmouth 2/19/20

Hawaii 2/20/20