Matsuzawa Named To Academic All-America First Team

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.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Kansei Matsuzawa: PK; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#17 Kansei Matsuzawa
: 6' 2"; Senior
: PK

Players Mentioned

#17 Kansei Matsuzawa

Players Mentioned

#17 Kansei Matsuzawa