Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Keanu Akina left the islands, but the islands never left him or the Akina clan.
So when wildfires consumed much of the island of Maui — where his grandparents originally lived before moving to the North Shore of Oahu, where he grew up — the BYU golfer wanted desperately to find a way to help.
Akina and his father, Alan, reached out to the two wards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lahaina to see if they could use Akina's name, image and likeness funds to help church members most affected by the fires.
The response they got was that many families had lost everything, and plenty of youth would just like a fresh white collared shirt to attend church.
So with an assist from Oncoor Sports Marketing, which represents Akina for NIL, they found local company &Collar to help fit the bill — and Akina and his younger brother Kihei, the No. 24-rated high school golfer nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin from Lone Peak who recently committed to BYU, to help with the deal.
But &Collar founder Ben Perkins wanted to do more. So with help from the Akina clan, they went back to their contacts in Maui and arranged to send one of &Collar's new shirts to every young boy in Maui's two stakes, 165 in all.
"I know if something happened to us on Oahu, there would be lines of people trying to help us," said Akina, a senior at BYU studying entrepreneurial management who spent his senior year of high school at Pleasant Grove, on the KSL.com Cougar Beat podcast. "We've been gone for 6-7 years now, and everyone there is like family — whether they are really family or not."
The project illustrates part of why Kihei Akina, who held offers from dozens of schools, including Alabama, Arizona State and Oklahoma State, chose BYU.
The Akina family moved to Utah when Kihei — who is named after the village in Maui where his great-grandfather was a fisherman — was in sixth grade. But every year, the family goes back home and benefits from the hospitality of the islands.
Kihei Akina, who was named the USA TODAY Sports high school golfer of the year as a junior after tying the Utah individual state record with a two-day total of 128, even made his announcement during a golf clinic in Hawaii.
He played last summer in the Manoa Cup, Hawaii's version of the state amateur, and advanced to the championship match before falling 3-and-2 to University of Hawaii rising sophomore Joshua Hayashida in the 36-hole final.
But working with his brother and &Collar — which has done NIL projects with BYU athletes in the past, including former quarterback Jaren Hall — to benefit youth in his home state illustrated one of the main reasons why Kihei Akina committed to BYU, where he will be the latest in a pipeline from Lone Peak that includes Max Brenchley, Zac Jones and Cooper Jones from the current roster.
"I just wanted to follow in Keanu's footsteps," said Kihei Akina, tongue firmly in cheek. "There were a lot of different reasons that I chose BYU. But one thing that really stood out was the support from the program and the people around BYU. It's in college and when you're playing you see the support, but especially after — whether golf works out or not. That support was really important for me."
Playing professional golf never entered Keanu Akina's mind when he first joined BYU's program as a walk-on following a standout basketball career at Pleasant Grove. That's changed since he's watched former teammates like Carson Lundell and volunteer assistant coach Daniel Summerhays — to say nothing of BYU alums Patrick Fishburn and Peter Kuest, or friend fo the program Tony Finau — play on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours and a variety of mini-tour events.
But mostly, BYU was about the educational component for Keanu Akina — and that played a role as he connected with Perkins and the staff at &Collar through their latest NIL venture with his five-star younger brother.
"I came to BYU wanting to be in the entrepreneurship program," the older Akina said. "I had to walk-on at BYU, and nothing was ever really given to me. It was cool to be alongside Kihei and watch him go through the decision-making process. I never had those opportunities and offers that he got, so it was cool to see how excited people were for him. … I told him I would be excited for him, where ever he went. But I definitely told him about BYU."
