Before he embarks on his collegiate volleyball career at the University of Hawaii, where he is part of a potentially historic recruiting class, Kamehameha star Kyler “Kainoa” Wade has unfinished business to tend to at the prep level.
Wade, the go-to star for the Warriors for multiple years, is set to take part in the HHSAA Division I boys volleyball state tournament, which begins on Monday. Kamehameha, the ILH runner-up, hosts Campbell on Monday at 6 p.m. with a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals on the line.
All the latest sports news from Hawaii’s sports station
Punahou, which has won 10 straight titles, enters as the top seed and tournament favorite. The Warriors came excruciatingly close to dethroning the Buffanblu in 2023, falling in five sets in the championship match at the Cannon Activities Center.
“We’ve had a lot of battles and we’re just really excited. We had a great week of practice and we’re really excited to show what we got,” Wade told KHON2 at a recent practice. “It’s a little bittersweet. I’m ready to go play college, but I just want to bring one home for our school.”
Wade, the son of Hawaii head coach Charlie Wade, has been around the game of volleyball his entire life. By the time he was a freshman at Kamehameha, he had cracked the starting lineup before a back injury put a halt to his season.
As a sophomore in 2023, he registered a match-high 30 kills with 10 kills and nine blocks in the state championship match against the Buffanblu.
As a junior in 2024, he’s regarded as one of the country’s top players, regardless of class. The outside hitter will graduate early from Kamehameha in December and enroll at UH-Manoa prior to the 2025 NCAA volleyball season.
“It’s kind of been in the works for a while now and we went over it with the credits and stuff and it worked out. The class we got coming in, it was good to get in with them,” said the 6-foot-8 Wade.
At Hawaii, Wade will reunite with one of his former youth coaches in Chad Giesseman, a volunteer assistant. Additionally, his older brother, Makana, is another member of the UH staff. Wade’s other brother, Kekoa, is currently a seventh grader at Kailua Intermediate.
Hawaii’s coaching staff traversed the globe in securing its 2025 class, which features a trio of international signees thus far in 6-foot-6 middle blocker Ofeck Hazan of Israel, 6-foot-5 outside hitter Adrien Roure of France and Bulgaria’s Kristian Titriyski, a 6-foot-8 opposite.
Domestically, the Rainbow Warriors also secured National Letters of Intent from 6-foot-5 setter Victor Lowe of Harvard-Westlake in California and 6-foot-5 outside hitter/opposite Finn Kearney, an Arizona native who won multiple U19 gold medals for Team USA with current UH setter Tread Rosenthal. Kearney and Lowe were both named to the 2025 VolleyballMag Boys Fab 50, with Kearney ranked the No. 3 player overall.
“I know all the guys and I’ve been around them for a while, with USA and club and stuff,” Wade said of the recruiting class. “All of us coming together, we’re gonna shock the world a little bit.”
Kamehameha head coach Sava Agpoon acknowledges a player of Wade’s caliber doesn’t come around often.
“It’s gonna be so long before we see another talent like that,” Agpoon said. “I think the last one at Kamehameha we had was Micah Christenson. It’s gonna be a while until we see another talent like Kainoa.”
Agpoon is proud of the way Wade overcame his freshman year getting cut short and responded by separating himself as one of the country’s premier prospects as a sophomore. The key to that?
“Oh man, he’s a heavy competitor,” Agpoon said. “He loves to compete. You could see that he was driven to win the state championship.
“I don’t think everybody understands how much of a competitor he is. Anything. He could play jan ken po or anything like that and he’d want to win that competition.”
Wade’s competitive nature will meet its match in January at the UH practice gym, where the Rainbow Warriors will be hungry after missing their first NCAA Tournament since 2018.
“Not making the tournament, the last five years it’s been tournament, tournament, tournament. So, not making it is a little (disappointing). But next year, everyone should be hungry for it and we’ll be back,” he said.
Given his pedigree and talent, Wade was a coveted prospect. But in his heart, he knew Hawaii is where he was meant to be.
“Not really,” Wade said when asked if he considered other colleges. “I kind of knew. The fans, the people that support me, they’re all here. It was a no-brainer for me, really.
“I just want to represent Hawaii on a bigger stage and represent my school. That’s what motivates me.”
Before he attempts to bring home championships to Hawaii, he has one last opportunity this week to bring one home to Kapalama, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2011.
“It’s going to be very exciting watching him play at UH,” Agpoon said. “Hopefully everyone can watch him play his last matches for Kamehameha and everyone supports him at UH.”