HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Long before deciding to play his college ball at the University of Alabama, Tayden Kaawa realized early in life he’d need to move to get noticed.

It’s part of the reason why his family moved from Molokai to Oahu when he was a boy, and why he left Moanalua after his sophomore season to head to Utah.

“At first it was tough, just because I was leaving my parents,” Kaawa said. “It wasn’t a tough decision schooling-wise, it was more leaving family back home.”

Kaawa is the starting quarterback at Orem High, which is about 50 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, but he’s never felt too far from home.

He lives with former University of Hawaii basketball star and successful sports agent Jarinn Akana, who grew up with Kaawa’s parents on Molokai and relocated to Utah a co

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