HONOLULU — For two Hawaii football receivers who tested the college sports equivalent of the free agent market, the best choice, they decided, was to exercise a player option for another year with the Rainbow Warriors.

Nick Cenacle and Dekel Crowdus were two of UH’s most productive pass-catchers in 2024, but decided to enter their names in the portal window in December.

There was interest and visits with Power Four schools, but first Cenacle, then Crowdus, withdrew their names and returned to the Rainbow Warriors with the blessing of coach Timmy Chang and staff.

They have been full participants in spring practices for the last two weeks, prominent names in a receiver room that includes newcomers Brandon White (Kentucky) and Jackson Harris (Stanford) to go with veterans like Pofele Ashlock and Karsyn Pupunu.

Cenacle, of Montreal, reprised his nicknames of “Smiley” and “Oh Canada” after a period of about 10 days in the portal.

“It was a scary situation. I almost didn't see these guys ever again, you know,” Cenacle, said of his UH teammates. “It's nice seeing these guys again for these spring practices, seeing everybody evolve, see the new faces, B-White, Jack-Jack, (who) is now my roommate. These guys just fit in the room so well. This group looks very, very in sync.”

Crowdus, who also will play his senior season in the fall, lingered in the portal a while longer than Cenacle but came to the same decision that Manoa was still “home.”

“Yeah, I call this place home,” said the Lexington, Ky., native, who transferred to UH from Kentucky entering last season. “Now, Kentucky is the normal home, but this place feels like home for me, but it feels great to be out here, back with the boys and putting in that work and grinding to be great.”

The prospect of playing a full season with Micah Alejado and putting up numbers in a familiar system was enticing to both players. The redshirt freshman Alejado, who led UH to a 38-30 win in the 2024 season finale against New Mexico in place of an injured Brayden Schager, is the clear leader of a crop of four quarterbacks in spring ball.

With the two players’ reversals of field, UH went from heavy depletion of its receiver room to respectable carryover into 2025.

The 6-foot-2 Cenacle blossomed in 2024, leading team with 63 catches for 721 yards and tied for team-high touchdown catches with Ashlock with six. The 5-11 Crowdus caught only 16 passes, but many were of the deep ball variety; he was fourth on the team in receiving yardage at 402 with four TDs.

Receivers coach Jared Ursua said the two have picked up right where they left off. In the UNM game, Cenacle caught seven balls for 93 yards and a touchdown while the speedy Crowdus caught a post route for a 52-yard score.

“Those are two highly productive football players that knew our system, that have a chemistry already built up with Micah, had success with him,” Ursua said, “and so that's a great commodity at our level of football right now that a lot of (Group of Five) football doesn't always get because so much of production moves elsewhere.”

Cenacle was driven by a feeling that he had to help his family financially, given the widespread opportunities in Name, Image and Likeness rights, especially at Power Four schools, that dwarf UH’s own.

“After going back home, talking to my mother especially, (my family) reassured me that, ‘yes, we're going through a lot, but I'll be okay. Don't be just doing this for us — we'll be good,’” Cenacle said. “So, that's all I need to hear. My heart's always been in Hawaii. They're the first team, and only team that believed in me coming out of Canada.”

Cenacle, who had interest from Michigan State and Maryland, said he realized that his coming senior season is his biggest to determine his pro prospects. He voiced confidence in the young Alejado's status as a team leader after just one start and said his return was also about trying to bring UH its first Mountain West championship.

Crowdus, too, said it was about playing the long game.

“I was getting a lot of offers and interest. So, I would say the grass ain’t always greener on the other side,” said Crowdus, who fielded interest with Oklahoma State and Kansas. “But I was getting offered the money and all this and that. But I realized it ain't always about the money. It's about grinding and putting the network to get the money at the next level.”

Ursua described the latest portal period, the sport’s version of musical chairs, as “just chaos.”

But amid the tumult in late December, Ursua experienced a reprieve in an unlikely place. He was making the lengthy, winding drive to remote Hana, Maui, with his wife when he got a phone call in a small area of cell reception. He learned that not only was Cenacle coming back, but White had committed from Kentucky — the latter in no small part due to the lobbying of Crowdus even as Crowdus was in the process of seeking offers in the portal.

“I had to stop at every fruit stand after that and really enjoy. My wife and I had a great time,” Ursua recalled. “It was really, really good. I had a brighter smile.”

Within a week, Crowdus called to ask back.

Ursua, in the first week of spring ball, shook his head with a smile at the dichotomy of Crowdus attempting to bring in White — who like Crowdus saw limited action in multiple years as a Wildcat — while Crowdus had seemingly bid UH aloha with a visit to Kansas lined up.

“Dekel was selling it like he was on payroll,” Ursua said.

“I'm saying to Dekel, ‘what are we doing? You’ve just left me,’” Ursua said. “And he says, ‘Coach, I know that, and I got a trip to Kansas and all these other power four schools, but you need to take this guy.’”

UH landing White ended up being a swing factor in Crowdus returning.

Ursua said he experienced the full range of emotions in a matter of days. Such is the fickle nature of the portal — it giveth and it taketh. Sometimes both at the same time.

“Ultimately, we never told these guys that we didn't want them,” Ursua said. “There were outside influences, as a lot of these young men are dealing with right now, and our job, most of all, is just to collect the best football players we can.”

Note: The final day of spring practices is March 9, not March 8 as previously announced.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.