Cougs Daily

BYU Running Back Commit Kingston Keanaaina is Putting Up Big Numbers as a Senior

Casey Lundquist

BYU running back commit Kingston Keanaaina
BYU running back commit Kingston Keanaaina / On SI
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While Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program are idle this weekend, our attention turns to the recruiting trail. One BYU commit, California native Kinston Keanaaina, is putting up monster numbers as a senior. The dual-sport athlete for St. Francis High School committed to BYU back in July over competing offers from Arizona, San Diego State, San Jose State, Washington State, Army, Air Force, and UAB. Keanaaina's recruitment was relatively lowkey and his commitment flew under the radar a little bit since he committed right while BYU was kicking off Fall camp. Low fanfare aside, BYU has found a future potential playmaker out of Northern California.

Kingston is averaging 197.5 rushing yards per game which ranks sixth in California this season. His per-game average doesn't tell the full story, either. Last week against Sacred Heart Cathedral on senior night, Keanaaina had only two carries: one went for a 76-yard touchdown and the other went for a 63-yard touchdown. He also had two kick returns, a 48-yard punt return and a kickoff return for a touchdown. After those four touches, Keanaaina was sidelined to avoid injury as his team cruised to a 49-24 victory.

When Keanaaina has taken on a larger workload, he has delivered. Keanaaina has rushed for more than 310 yards on three separate occasions this season. He is a major reason why St. Francis is 7-1 this season as they prepare for the final stretch of the 2024 season.

His high school coach, Greg Calcagno, says Keanaaina is the kind of back that gets stronger and stronger as the game progresses. "He's carried the ball 35 times, multiple times in the game for us. It's really not something that we strive to do and give him the ball that much, but he just continues to get stronger as the game goes on and we kind of start to wear people down. It's hard not to give him the ball."

Coach Calcagno recounts one game against Archbishop Mitty where Keanaaina had 12 consecutive carries to drain out the clock and preserve the 30-27 victory. "[It's] just crazy numbers like that where he just continues to get the ball and we just continue to move forward."

Keanaaina has impacted the game as a returner throughout the season. Keanaaina has returned just 17 kicks this season: 10 punt returns and 7 kickoff returns. He has returned three of those kicks for touchdowns. He had another punt return touchdown that was called back.

Calcagno says Kingston's rugby background helps him as both a running back and kick returner. "He plays rugby here for us. He's played it all growing up. He's got great vision. He's kind of a downhill guy, which is what we want, right? He's gonna get downhill pretty quick and make guys miss in space. You don't really seem to get tackled one on one very often and he's so physical that he just runs people over too."

Kingston first flashed his potential as a sophomore at St. Francis, Calcagno says. "We were playing De La Salle, who's hands down the best team historically in Northern California year in and year out, and we're playing them up there. Kings, he just made plays on both sides of the ball. He made a great play defensively - he tracked the guy down, stripped it. And then he was our leading ball carrier as well. We really kind of started to give him the ball a little bit more and feature him."

As a senior, Keanaaina has "been at a whole different level" according to Coach Calcagno. He is on pace to set become the all-time leading rusher at St. Francis - a school that has prepped FBS running backs before. Former Oregon and Boise State running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio played at St. Francis. Current San Jose State running back Viliami Teu also played for the Lancers.

Keanaaina will serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prior to enrolling at BYU. BYU running back Harvey Unga has been the primary recruiter in his recruitment.

Kingston fits the mold of the big, physical running backs that have had success at BYU under offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. Keanaaina is listed at 6'0 and 205 pounds, he has good vision, and he will get yards after contact. Keanaaina will enroll at BYU around the same time that current feature running back LJ Martin graduates.

Keanaaina is one of two running back commits in BYU's 2025 class. Fellow running back commit Cale Breslin, a Nevada native, will enroll at BYU in January. Breslin committed to BYU over Wisconsin, Indiana, and Syracuse among others. Keanaaina and Breslin and two of the 16 commits that currently make up BYU's 2025 recruiting class.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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