All-Conference Hawaii Receiver Won't Play Against Cal in Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii wide receiver Jackson Harris, a first-team All-Mountain West selection this year, will enter the transfer portal and won't play in the Rainbow Warriors' Hawaii Bowl game against Cal on December 24, according to Spectrum News in Hawaii.

Adding to the story is the fact that that Harris is from Berkeley and attended Berkeley High School, which is less than a mile from the Cal campus. There has been no indication whether he is targeting any particular school as his transfer destination.

Harris is a third-year sophomore who spent his first two college years at Stanford, where his playing time was limited. He transferred to Hawaii prior to the 2025 season, and he led the Mountain West Conference and was tied for third nationally in touchdown catches with 12. Harris also was second in the conference in receiving yardage with 963, and his 87.5 receiving yards per game ranked 11th in the country.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harris had more than 100 receiving yards in six of his last seven games this season, and he had 11 touchdown catches in that seven-game span.

Harris was not at the Rainbow Warriors' practice on Wednesday morning, and Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang acknowledged Harris' decision to transfer.

“We wish him the best of luck, and we thank him for playing here. That’s just how it goes,” Chang said, according to Spectrum News.

Chang does not like the state of college football, though, when it comes to acquiring and retaining players.

“I think overall there’s a lot of flaws in the rules and non-regulated rules of NIL, transfer portal, the calendar dates,” Chang told Spectrum News Hawaii. “If you were to ask coaches from around the country, we all have different opinions, but I think the one thing is that we work very hard from January all the way 'til (now) to get into the postseason. You’re having to deal with coaches moving on, players moving on, and really when we talk about team game and being part of a team, being part of something bigger, playing for the brother next to you, those values just really don’t line up.”

Players cannot officially enter the transfer portal until January 2, and players must enter the portal between January 2 and January 16. However, after entering the transfer portal, players can commit to another school at any time.

Cal (7-5) will be playing in a bowl game for the third straight year when the Bears face Hawaii (8-4) on the Rainbow Warriors' home field on the University of Hawaii campus in the Hawaii Bowl.

Cal interim head coach Nick Rolovich was a teammate of Chang's for two seasons at Hawaii when both were competing for the starting quarterback job. Chang beat out Rolovich for the starting job in 2000, but Chang suffered a season-ending wrist injury in the third game of the 2001 season. Rolovich became the starter and threw 34 touchdown passes that season while leading the Rainbow Warriors to a 9-3 record, including a 72-45 victory over 10th-ranked BYU when Rolovich threw eight touchdown passes in his final college game.

Rolovich later was Hawaii's head coach for four seasons, taking the Rainbow Warriors to the Hawaii Bowl three times and winning it twice.

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