ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii running back Calvin Turner (7) looks for running room through the Houston defense during the second quarter of the New Mexico Bowl NCAA college football game in Frisco, Texas, on Dec. 24. Turner announced on Twitter today that he will return to the Rainbow Warriors for the 2021 season.
The University of Hawaii football team’s top playmaker — Calvin Turner — will return to the Rainbow Warriors for the 2021 season.
Turner announced his decision to remain at UH on Twitter.
Turner transferred to UH after Jacksonville dropped its football program following the 2019 season. Turner, who was Jacksonville’s quarterback for three years, had a breakout 2020 season for the Warriors, playing receiver, running back, wildcat quarterback and returner. Turner led the Warriors with 133.4 all-purpose yards per game and scored a team-high 70 points (66 of them on his 11 touchdowns).
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA approved a waiver allowing players to retain their 2020 class standing in 2021. That meant Turner, who was a senior in 2020, will be a fifth-year senior this coming season.
Turner spurned the option of applying for the 2021 NFL Draft.
UH coach Todd Graham said Turner will benefit from another year of Division I football.
“Calvin’s a guy, to me, who will be the most dynamic guy in the league next year,” Graham told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a telephone interview. “He can be a first-team All-American. … I’m looking forward to coaching him and the rest of the guys, and competing for a championship in 2021.”
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