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UCLA - Kai figures to compete for the starting center position ... A tough, hard-nosed competitor who started as a true freshman at Colorado.
2008 - Redshirted last season after transferring from Colorado ... Has three seasons of eligibility remaining. COLORADO - Saw his first playing time in the fourth game of the 2007 season (40 snaps versus Miami-Ohio) and then started the entire conference season and the Independence Bowl (nine games) at left offensive guard ... Made his first career start in game five against Oklahoma ... Just the eighth true freshman to start a game on the offensive line at Colorado since freshmen were allowed to play again in 1972 ... Earned first-team Freshman All-America honors from scout.com, while The Sporting News and collegefootballnews.com selected him honorable mention ... TSN also selected him to its Freshman All-Big 12 team, while Phil Steele's College Football selected him honorable mention All-Big 12 ... Played 575 snaps from scrimmage, recording 74 knockdown blocks (second on team) with a game-high of 12 against Oklahoma ... His best game grade was 92% against Iowa State, as he earned two game grades over 90 percent and four over 80 ... Tied for the team lead in touchdown blocks with five, while being called for three penalties and allowing eight pressures and two sacks ... Recipient of the Lee Willard Award, selected by the coaching staff and presented to most outstanding freshman.
HIGH SCHOOL - Ranked as the No. 31 center in the nation by rivals.com ... First-team All-State and All-Maui Interscholastic League performer as a senior ... Played mostly offensive guard, moving over to center when the game was in hand to get others in the game; he coordinated the O-line play calls ... A team captain, he averaged 10-12 pancake blocks a game as a senior, when he had eight direct touchdown blocks, was not responsible for a sack, and was called for just four penalties ... Three-year starter on offense ... Played at tackle as a sophomore, before moving to guard as a junior; he had 8-10 pancake blocks per game that season when he earned honorable mention All-State and first-team All-MIL accolades ... Did not allow a single quarterback sack during his high school career, and in spot play at defensive tackle as a senior (4-5 plays per game), he had 12 tackles, two for losses, with four hurries, a forced fumble, a pass broken up and a blocked field goal ... His top games came against Kamehameha, where he went to school from the second through ninth grades; as a junior, he had 23 pancake blocks against them, and as a senior, another 18 with a touchdown block in two one-sided Baldwin wins ... Under coach Jimmy Morimoto, Baldwin was 10-1-1 his senior year, the MIL champions, but lost in the state semifinals on a `Hail Mary' pass as time expired to Kahuku, 22-20 ... BHS was 11-1 his junior season, also the MIL champs again reaching the state semis, and was 10-1-1 his sophomore season ... He played one year of junior varsity basketball (as a sophomore), lining up at center; his best game was a 35-point, 10-rebound effort against Lahaina.
PERSONAL - Born June 3, 1989 in Wailuku, Hawaii ... Hobbies include surfing, cliff diving, hiking, music and relaxing at the beach ... Father (Scott Mahoney) was an offensive lineman at Colorado and had a brief stint with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs ... His grandfather ("Prince" Neff Maiava) was a famous world renowned wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s, and the six-time Hawaii heavyweight champion (his signature finishing move was the head butt, and he used to use his hair to cut his opponents hands) ... An Uncle is "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson (actor/former WWF wrestler/Miami football player) ... An older brother, Kaluka, played linebacker at USC ... There is royal Samoan lineage in the family ... Full first name is Kealaka'i (pronounced kay-ala-ka-E; his last name is pronounced my-ah-vuh) ... Also an accomplished rugby player, as he earned All-Star honors his sophomore and junior years, and was the Hawaii heavyweight boxing champion as a junior. ... Undeclared major.
