{"id":237406,"date":"2026-07-15T14:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=237406"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:13:12","slug":"alejado-pre-season-player-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/15\/alejado-pre-season-player-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Alejado named pre-season player of the year, 3 others honored"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

\"U<\/p>\n

The Mountain West Conference announced its 2026 preseason all-conference football team, with four University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa student-athletes earning recognition. <\/p>\n

Quarterback Micah Alejado, wide receiver Pofele Ashlock, defensive back Elijah Palmer and linebacker Jamih Otis were all named to the preseason All-Mountain West team. Additionally, Alejado took home the league’s top individual honor as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Alejado, the 2025 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, completed 66.3% of his passes for 3,106 yards and 24 touchdowns, while adding 105 rushing yards and one touchdown in his first season as a starter. He closed the year by throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns in Â鶹´«Ã½’s<\/span> 35-31 Sheraton Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Bowl win. <\/p>\n

Ashlock remained one of the Mountain West’s top receivers in 2025, recording 76 catches for 827 yards and eight touchdowns. Over three seasons, he has totaled 220 receptions for 2,288 yards and 23 touchdowns as the leader of UH<\/abbr>‘s Run-and-Shoot offense.<\/p>\n

Palmer has earned All-Mountain West honorable mention in each of the past two seasons. He recorded 10 pass breakups as a junior and has 121 career tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and five interceptions.<\/p>\n

Otis finished second on the team with 60 tackles and two forced fumbles in 2025. A two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week, he started 11 straight games last season before missing the final two contests, ending a streak of 36 consecutive appearances to begin his career.<\/p>\n

The Warriors open the 2026 season on August 29 at Stanford and play their home opener at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex on September 5 vs. UNLV<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Read more at hawaiiathletics.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four UH<\/abbr> athletes were recognized, with quarterback Alejado selected as preseason player of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,83,9,550],"class_list":["post-237406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-football","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t