Why Trech Kekahuna Ultimately Decided to Return to Wisconsin After Entering the Transfer Portal

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Trech Kekahuna sent his belongings back home to Hawaii. His flight was booked. Having entered his name in the transfer portal, the sophomore wide receiver was ready to leave Wisconsin behind for good.

Then, in came a call from offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, literally as Kekahuna was on his way to the Milwaukee airport, where he would then jet to an official visit at another school. Little did Kekahuna know, that call would completely alter his future.

“I was ready to go to whatever school I was going to,” Kekahuna told Badger Blitz. “He gave me a call and said he’d love to meet me and just talk ball. He wanted to show what his offense is.”

Kekahuna knew next to nothing about Grimes, who had just signed on with the Badgers after coming over from Kansas in December. But Grimes knew a ton about Kekahuna. A former offensive coordinator at BYU, Grimes had competed against Kekahuna’s uncles, who played at Hawaii. Upon taking the job with the Badgers, Grimes had also become enamored with Kekahuna during his film study of the 2024 season.

“When I was talking to coach ‘Fick’ (Luke Fickell) about the job, before I had officially even taken it, I had saw his name and he was getting in the portal,” Grimes explained. “Didn’t really know who he was at the time. I get here and he’s in the portal. I talked with KG (Kenny Guiton) about him, I watched some film, and I’m like, ‘Am I missing something here, because I think we really want this guy on our team.’

“We brought him in, sat him down, and talked with him for a little while about his skillset and things I’ve been able to do with players like him in the past. I think him just recognizing that I understood who he was, saw him as a player and a person, said, ‘Yeah, I want to be a part of that.'”

Kekahuna, who picked up numerous power-four scholarship offers while in the transfer portal, estimated he was about 10 hours from committing to another program prior to Grimes’ phone call. After speaking with Grimes briefly, Kekahuna told his chauffeur to turn the car around and head back to campus.

“I was leaning towards one school,” Kekahuna explained. “I was like, ‘I’m going to take my visit and I’m going there.’ I had a lot of connections there.”

“I’ve got a lot of respect for these guys. That’s why I pulled us over, turned around, and ‘Take me back to the facility.’

“It was a crazy day for me.”

Kekahuna said he decided to return to Wisconsin immediately after his talk with Grimes, but didn’t officially announce his return until a few days later.

“He loves to get his playmakers the ball and he sees me as that,” Kekahuna said. “He put my film up and he said, ‘You’re going to be making more of these.’”

Breakout Season Incoming

As a redshirt freshman, Kekahuna caught 25 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns…but he wanted more. Playing in the slot behind Will Pauling, now at Notre Dame and the team’s leading receiver in both 2023 and 2024, it was difficult for Kekahuna to make the impact he desired and was fully capable of. With Pauling banged up against Purdue in October, Kekahuna had his best game as a Badger, going off for 134 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions.

“Will is a great player. I have a lot of respect for him,” said Kekahuna. “It was kind of hard, when I make a play, to go off the field.”

That won’t be the case this fall.

“Lightning in a bottle right there,” said first-year wide receivers coach Jordan Reid. “That’s the fun thing about a kid like that, different ways you can utilize that. The play speed that kid plays with, there’s no hesitation.

“He does not flinch.”

Prior to meeting with Grimes, Kekahuna didn’t anticipate he’d be getting more opportunities than the air-raid offense Wisconsin abandoned under former offensive coordinator Phil Longo in November. Heck, Grimes’ system is built on a physical, violent run game. However, through the first few months, Grimes has been committed to getting the receivers involved in various ways, especially in the run. One of UW’s fastest players, Kekahuna gets a chance to do what he does best: get the ball in his hands early and go.

“I feel like he can have a great year,” said senior wide receiver Vinny Anthony. “There’s so many ways that he (Grimes) gets people the ball. It makes a defense always on their toes.”

Unfortunately for Kekahuna, he’s had to wait until now to get acclimated to Grimes’ offense. Missing all but one practice in the spring due to a leg injury, Kekahuna returned to action at the start of fall camp on Tuesday — And It took everything in the staff’s power to keep Kekahuna away over the last five months.

“Trech is a guy you’ve gotta save from Trech,” Fickell said at Big Ten media days. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have those guys than the guys we have to try and prop along. When you give Trech an inch, he’s going to go a mile. As soon as you give him the chance to go full-go, he doesn’t stop.”

An early riser, Kekahuna is often beating the staff to the facility in the morning and can’t wait to get going.

“You talk about somebody who embodies loving this game,” said Reid. “Every day he’s hungry, every day he’s asking questions, he’s looking to do more. I’m up at whatever time in the morning. I walk out to breakfast, and he’s right there.

“That’s really who he is. It’s not a facade. It’s not fake. That’s who he is.”

History Repeats Itself

This isn’t the first time Kekahuna and Wisconsin have had a falling out of sorts. A Rivals four-star recruit in the class of 2022, Kekahuna originally committed to the Badgers under former head coach Paul Chryst. Once Fickell and his staff were hired, Kekahuna lost touch with the new regime and de-committed. Eventually, Kekahuna gave his pledge to Arizona. However, on national signing day, Kekahuna stunned the nation once it was revealed he was headed back to UW. There was no ceremony. Not even an announcement from Kekahuna on social media. Just the Badgers posting the addition on the official website after receiving Kekahuna’s national letter of intent.

Kekahuna recalls following in the footsteps of former Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig, also a Hawaii native and St. Louis High School alum, who played three seasons in Madison before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. As an unknown recruit, Kekahuna was urged by Herbig to pay his own way to UW for a June camp to try and earn a scholarship offer, which he eventually did.

Between his high school recruitment and the first two seasons with the Badgers, there have been some bumps in the road, but Kekahuna just can’t seem to walk away.

“I just love Wisconsin,” he said.