FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas defensive end Mataio Soli announced his transfer destination on Sunday.
In a post on his Twitter account, Soli declared his commitment to Hawaii, a member of the Mountain West Conference. Son of Razorback great Junior Soli, he announced his intention to leave the Razorbacks on April 6.
Hawaii finished the 2021 season at 6-7 overall and 3-5 in conference games. The Rainbow Warriors allowed 31.4 points per game.
Soli, who ran with the third-team defense at practices he attended this spring, suffered a number of injuries during his college career, including what appeared to be a minor leg injury during one of his last workouts in April.
An 11-game starter with a broken bone in his hand as a true freshman in 2019 under coach Steve Caldwell, Soli had a career-high 19 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. .
But playing time in defense has been rare for the past two years. The 6-foot-4, 241-pound winger has made 1 start in the past 2 seasons and has 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack in 21 games.
Soli’s biggest contribution of 2021 came on special teams with the recovery and four-yard return of a punt blocked by Jake Yurachek in the second quarter of Arkansas’ 40-21 win over No. 1 of the time. 15 Texas.
Tom Murphy contributed to this report.
