“Kealoha gained a great deal because of the new CBA,” Silberman said, noting that Pilares stands to make $200,000 more in base salary over the course of four years than he would have under the old agreement. “I’m excited for him and glad he gets to get started on his pro career. The Panthers are excited about his versatility and playmaking ability.”

***

Hawaii sophomore quarterback Corey Nielsen is transferring to St. Francis (Pa.).

Corey Nielsen had an impressive career at Gahr High School in California, and came to Hawaii partly because of strong family ties to the islands. He has been at UH two years and redshirted in 2009, and was mired near the bottom of the UH depth chart. His uncle Jon Nielsen said that when Corey wasn’t invited to preseason camp that starts next week it helped the decision to transfer.

Corey will be missed as a valued practice player and for his positive attitude and presence in the community; for example, he often gave of his time to work with youth and high school players. But he will have a much better chance for playing time at FCS (what used to be Division I-AA) St. Francis. He will not have to sit out a year, and has three years remaining to play three seasons.

KKEA’s Bobby Curran announced this morning on his show that Felipe Ojastro will be the sideline reporter for the station’s University of Hawaii radio broadcasts this season. He replaces John Veneri who will join play-by-play man Curran in the booth as color analyst this year, since Robert Kekaula is moving to TV play-by-play.

This is exciting for all involved, and I believe listeners are  especially in for a big treat in Ojastro (also known as “The Rev” because he’s an ordained minister, despite his youth). Felipe is a rising star and one of the best  young people I know. His combination of talent, enthusiasm, personality and work ethic reminds me of when Rob DeMello was climbing the ranks a few years ago.

This is from reader Norman Tyau in response to Sunday’s column.

Arnold’s substitutions are >500% more than that practiced by his two immediate predecessors. Both Nash and Wallace let players sit on the bench till the last few seconds of many a game and did not develop players via substitutions throughout games. Prime, glaring example of this was Carl English who basically sat on the bench till he was needed because of an injury to a “frontline player” in the WAC end of season tournament. Then he was discovered ?

Speaking of promises being made and not kept ? Nash promised his recruits that he would be using a run-n-gun style of play but as one of the player’s Mother commented, he was full of baloney because he ended up following Wallace’s boring, ineffective and unentertaining, slow down “flex motion” offense.

And finally, discipline for not attending classes is absolutely correct punishment/motivation.

Veteran referee Abe Pacheco is the new chairman of the Hawaii state boxing commission, replacing Hubert Minn.

Della Martin is taking a break from the commission, but says she will remain active in the boxing community.

Now that Robert Kekaula is the new TV play-by-play voice for University of Hawaii football, that answer creates a question: Who takes Kekaula’s place as radio color analyst? The answer, in some cases, could be … Robert Kekaula. ESPN will be taking some of the TV games, and KKEA could try to retain him for those games to continue his longtime role as radio analyst with play-by-play man Bobby Curran.

Anyway, any thoughts on who replaces Kekaula when he moves to TV?