On Saturday, No. 1 Tennessee and No. 3Texas A&M will compete in the best-of-three 2024 NCAA Men's College World Series championship series.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas was a popular pick to win it all as the No. 5 national seed. But the Razorbacks didn't even make it out of their own regional, losing to SEMO in shocking fashion on June 2.
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The Razorbacks moved quickly to restock their roster since then, which included a family reunion for a pair of brothers from Baldwin.
After a standout freshman year at BYU, Kuhio Aloy is set to join his brother, Wehiwa at Arkansas.
Kuhio Aloy played in all 52 games for the Cougars in 2024, hitting .269 with eight home runs, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman team. Upon entering the transfer portal, neither side hesitated.
"Thanks to the transfer portal, I was able to transfer from BYU to Arkansas. It just feels good because my brother’s there and it’s always been the dream to play SEC baseball," Kuhio Aloy told KHON2 recently. "I grew up watching SEC baseball and now that I get to do it at the collegiate level, it’s very special and doing with my brother is even more special.
“I’ve always wanted to play with my brother. I’ve always wanted to play with him since youth ball to high school ball. To get the opportunity to play with him at the collegiate level, it’s just a very awesome opportunity that I’m thankful for and appreciate and me, my brother and my family are just very stoked about it.”
Despite his departure from BYU, Kuhio Aloy remains grateful for his time with the Cougars, who recruited him late in his high school career as his profile was picking up steam.
“I thought BYU was a great experience for me. A great learning curve, I learned a lot about the game," he said. "Just my first year in college going from high school ball in Hawaii to collegiate ball in the Big 12 or at BYU, I thought I learned a lot and I grew a lot more as a player and as a student and I just thought it was a really good experience.”
Wehiwa Aloy also joined Arkansas out of the portal after earning Freshman All-America honors at Sacramento State in 2023. Like Kuhio, Wehiwa played in all of his team's games in 2024, hitting .270 with a team-high 14 home runs, continuing to project as a high selection in the 2025 MLB Draft.
“I’ve always tried to watch as much games as possible," Kuhio said of watching Wehiwa and the Razorbacks in 2024. "I love supporting my brother. I think he really did put his name out there and it started at Sac State where he did what he prepared himself for, which was play baseball and play baseball 110% and never give up. He’s a very hard worker which I think really helped him and he just kept going and kept going and as time went on, he just got recognized and people noticed that. I mean, people really noticed the hard work he put in and it shows on the field.”
In 2025, Arkansas is set to have at least three players from Hawaii. In addition to the Aloy brothers, Punahou's Nolan Souza is looking to see his role increase with the Razorbacks by the time he's a sophomore.
Kuhio Aloy hopes the presence of two Maui kids on an SEC baseball team can inspire more youth on the valley isle.
“I think this means a lot. Not just to the island of Maui but also the other kids that play sports," he said. "It just goes to show to never give up. You can achieve what you want to achieve. Just keep working. Keep working and keep pushing.”