Earning football scholarship changed this UNLV player’s life

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | 2 a.m.

No matter how many times Roscoe Kalilikane watched the game film the outcome never changed. The UNLV football special teams standout would have to challenge Boise State’s Darren Lee, and Lee appeared to get the best of everyone.

“I still remember his number — No. 44. Every single game he played in, he was running over dudes left and right on kickoff,” Kalilikane said.

But Kalilikane more than held his own that Saturday, and every Saturday last fall for the Rebels, to solidify his place on the roster. The Hawaii native went from a walk-on in 2013 to becoming part of traveling team and key special teams contributor.

That was just the beginning.

Last week, in the final workout before spring break, second-year coach Tony Sanchez brought players together after practice for an announcement: Kalilikane would be put on full scholarship starting in the fall. He was immediately swarmed by teammates and carried off the field in celebration.

During the walk to the locker room, Kalilikane couldn’t help becoming emotional — he had no idea coaches were planning to put him on scholarship. The scholarship represents more than free room, board and tuition, or the feeling of being wanted. Without it, the redshirt junior linebacker would have likely quit the team and dropped out of school, opting to return to Hawaii and work.

Kalilikane already had about $10,000 of debt in student loans, and he was loath to take on another. He comes from a working-class family and his mother is in between jobs. Forget about the scholarship allowing him to play two more football seasons — more important, it’s going to allow him to finish his kinesiology degree and become the first in his family to graduate from college.

“This was probably going to be my last year,” he said. “My family helped a lot, but they couldn’t do it anymore and I wasn’t going to get another loan. It was an emotional process.”

He never told teammates or coaches of his struggles to pay his own way. And, by no means, was this a charity case. Sanchez, in fact, had no idea Kalilikane was pondering his future. He just kept giving it his best effort at practice. That effort didn’t go unnoticed.

“The crazy think about that, that’s the first I am hearing it. He never told us that,” Sanchez said. “I don’t know how other people feel, but I know how I feel — that’s God. You do the right thing, you show up and go hard every day and God’s looking out for you. He did all the little things. He is never making excuses. Just a great team guy.”

About 20 walk-on players are on the UNLV roster. Most help exclusively on the scout team and don’t travel to road games. Only a select few develop into a contributor.

To start at the bottom of the roster and eventually earn a scholarship takes more than ability. It’s all about desire. That’s what makes Kalilikane’s journey so valuable for Sanchez when building a roster. He’ll surely use Kalilikane as an example when dealing with others in a similar situation.

Kalilikane is more than a good football player. He’s also on track to graduate — the first requirement Sanchez looked at when awarding the scholarship. If Kalilikane’s grade point average was less than 2.5, he would still be a nonscholarship player.

“That was the first thing we looked at — is he on track to graduate?,” the coach said. “The kid had nothing promised to him. You earn those opportunities and we will recognize you.”

Kalilikane went to call family in Hawaii to inform them of the good news. But when he checked his cellphone they had already messaged their congratulations, seeing video of the announcement on the team’s social media.

Kalilikane doesn’t plan to rest on his laurels. His next goal is to crack the starting lineup.

“The way I looked at it is you have to work twice as hard as all of these scholarship guys to impress the coaches,” he said. “I’m not going to stop working now just because I’m on scholarship.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21