Courtesy of Hawai’i Athletics
HONOLULU – The College Sports Communicators announced its 2025 Academic All-Americans with University of Hawai’i placekicker Kansei Matsuzawa earning first-team honors. Matsuzawa is just the ninth Rainbow Warrior to gain academic All-America recognition and the first since Kealoha Pilares in 2010.
He is also just the fourth UH player to gain a spot on the first team joining Pilares, Chris Shinnick (1997) and Travis Sims (1992).
Earlier this month Matsuzawa was one of five Rainbow Warriors to earn academic all-district honors, the second consecutive year he gained the distinction. In order to be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale). The Tokyo, Japan native graduated in December with a 3.68 GPA in interdisciplinary studies.
The academic award adds to one of the most accomplished seasons in UH history. Matsuzawa set new UH records for single-season (27) and consecutive field goals made (26). He also tied a four-decade old FBS record by converting his first 25 field goals of the season. By year’s end, the senior became UH’s first-ever consensus All-American, was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top placekicker.
