University Of Hawaii Warriors: The Roster Breakdown: Wide Receivers

January 1st, 2008. During the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Fox, a short clip was played about the starting corp of wide outs for UH, the people watching were introduced to the "Dreadheads". The four starting wide recievers for UH all have dreadlocks, and the group was named as such. Within the group, nicknames for all of them. Davone "Da Original" Bess, Ryan "Mr. O-One" Grice-Mullins, Jason "Ocho Quatro" Rivers and C.J. "Lil' Deuce" Hawthorne.

If you want to know how big of an effect these four receivers were, take a look at their career stats. Starting with Davone Bess, he had 41 touchdowns with 3,610 yards receiving. He averaged 95.5 yards per game. Jason Rivers left UH with 35 touchdowns, 3,919 career yards. Hauling in 292 catches while averaging 89 YPG. Ryan Grice-Mullins had 3,370 yards with 37 touchdowns. He averaged 92.6 YPG. Lastly, CJ Hawthorne only played one season for the Warriors but had 859 yards on 61 receptions with 6 touchdowns averaging 61 YPG. These are big numbers that the Warriors will be without.

These four were part of the most prolific Quarterback in college football, Colt Brennan. These four were awarded along with Colt Brennan the Offensive Unit of the Year award in the WAC for being so good. But say goodbye to Jason Rivers, the schools all-time leader in yards receiving.

Say goodbye to C.J. Hawthorne, the speed demon. In a perfect world, Ryan Grice-Mullins and Davone Bess would still be here for their senior years, but both decided to leave a year early, and neither got drafted, although they both got free-agent contracts. Had Bess stayed, barring injury, you'd be looking at UH's new all time leading receiver, and possible the schools only 4-time 1000 yard receiver. Had Grice-Mullins stayed, he also probably would have a chance to break the record, and accumulate many more TDs. But no more, they're gone. Instead, let us look up at the sky and see the new group who will help lead us to victory.

Malcolm Lane comes is the only Warrior who has had a good amount of playing time for this year's group as he was a back up to Jason Rivers the last two years. He would come in for mop-up work and even started a game or two last year. He has vicious speed, as he was a kick returner averaging 29.2 yards per return which ranked 10th in the nation, including two kicks for touchdowns, a 94 and 87 yarder against Northern Colorado and Utah State respectively. Lane is coming in with 14 receptions last year for 270 yards and 2 TDs as a receiver.

Aaron Bain is a senior this year and is known as Yoda for his look. No, he isn't green with grey hair, but he is small with a lot of knowledge. He hasn't played a lot but he has played enough. In his career so far at UH over three years, he has caught 230 yards and 3 TDs. He is very powerful and knows how to make a big play.

Michael Washington is a senior along with Bain and is also a small man with a lot of speed. One of the fastest players on the team running the 40 in under 4.3 at some times, comes in with bits of experience from each year and finally has his chance to shine. With career numbers of 184 yards and 1 TD, he also had one of the most amazing Punt Returns for an 80 yard touchdown against Northern Colorado last year a la Chad Owens. Juking and spinning in and around tackles and even appearing out of a group of 5 or 6 opposing team shirts, he came through for the score in a blowout win first game of the year. Look for that speed on the inside slot.

Greg Salas is next on the list. Although he only played in 2 games last year as a RS Freshman, he pulled in 3 receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown. He gained strength and still has his speed, and his taking over for C.J. Hawthorne on the outside deep routes.

As mentioned before, there is talk of Kealoha Pilares and possibly Daniel Libre moving to slotback positions, which would add even more depth to UH. Their numbers rushing were posted in the Running Back preview so be sure to read it if you haven't yet.

Beyond these 6, UH boasts a lot of talent deep on the roster that will hopefully have some time to shine this year or next. Be on the lookout for names such as Joe Avery, Royce Pollard, Jett Jasper, Jon Medeiros, Dylan Linkner, Nate Nasca, Mike Tinoco, Jimmy Flanagan, Troy Laduski, Miah Ostrowski, Craig Bell, Dustin Blount, Earvin Sione and Jovonte Taylor to make some noise in the future.

Three positions down, five more to go. Next up is the offensive line for the Warrior football team, always boasting strong powerful pass-blockers.