Notebook | Missing Seattle, but from Hawaii?

Stuck, if that's the right word, in the perpetual 80-degree climate of Hawaii, Adam Leonard says he misses the weather in Seattle.

"Putting on that coat and carrying around an umbrella, I enjoy that," said the former Rainier Beach High star. "But I'm getting used to Hawaii."

And Hawaii is getting used to him. Leonard has become one of the leaders of a Warriors defense that flies under the radar compared to the team's high-scoring run-and-shoot offense.

Leonard, a 6-foot, 236-pound junior linebacker, has 92 tackles, two sacks and four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns, for a defense that ranks 31st nationally.

Earlier this week, Hawaii coach June Jones called Leonard "maybe the best player in the [Western Athletic Conference] on defense." Leonard was a second-team All-WAC selection last year as a sophomore.

Not bad for a player few schools thought worthy of a scholarship after he suffered two knee injuries that caused him to miss most of his senior season at Rainier Beach in 2004. Leonard said he was talking to coaches at Dixie College in Utah when they showed his film to coaches at Hawaii, who offered him a scholarship the next day, a few weeks after signing day.

Washington, he said, was never really interested during a year when the coaching staff changed from Keith Gilbertson to Tyrone Willingham. Leonard said he talked to both staffs, but was never offered a scholarship.

"It would have been great to be home but I didn't want to go to a school that didn't want me," he said. "It hurt, but I'm not a guy that dwells on the past. I'm just happy I ended up here."

Even if the contribution of the defense often gets overlooked.

Leonard acknowledges Hawaii has given up some offense at times — four teams have scored 30 or more points against the Warriors. But he says the unique nature of Hawaii's quick-strike passing offense means a lot of possessions for both teams, which sometimes means big numbers for the other team.

"But if people watch our film and study us, they know we are a good defense," he said. "It might not show in all the key stats. We're not going to be defined by outside people. We're just going out there each week competing."

Keeping legacy alive

Hawaii linebacker Tyson Kafentzis, a junior from Richland, is the ninth member of his family to play for the Warriors. Tyson is the son of Mark Kafentzis, a former Richland High star who began the migration when he transferred there from Columbia Basin College in 1980, later helping lure brothers Kent, Kurt, Kyle and Sean to play there as well.

"It's like one big family over here," said Tyson Kafentzis, whose older brother Landon played at Hawaii in 2004-05.

Tyson Kafentzis is mostly a special-teams player after having started eight games at linebacker last season. He was moved to safety before this season, then moved back to his old position.

He said he has "about a thousand" cousins, many of whom are young football players, and figures the family name at Hawaii will continue someday. Like many of the other family members, he wears No. 8 for Hawaii.

Notes

• The Huskies will arrive in Honolulu this evening and will go straight to the hotel instead of having a walk-through at Aloha Stadium. Willingham said the team will have enough time Saturday to get acclimated to the surroundings, which has a FieldTurf surface, same as UW.

• Restricted to 64 players for Pac-10 road games, UW can take more this week, and Willingham said UW "will take as much of the team as possible."