Hawaii has officially added some Group of Five talent to its football roster.
In February, North Texas’ Rico Bussey Jr. made his way into the NCAA transfer database. Three months later, the wide receiver used his Twitter machine to announce he is headed to the Hawaii football team.
Tuesday, Hawaii confirmed Bussey’s addition to the football team.
Bussey will be eligible to play for the Hawaii football team in 2020. This will be the receiver’s final season of eligibility.
A torn ACL prematurely ended Bussey’s 2019 campaign in mid-September last year. Because he played in four or fewer games, he was able to take a redshirt. That saves a year of eligibility that he’ll now use at the Mountain West Conference school.
Two seasons ago, Bussey led the Mean Green in receptions (68), receiving yards (1,017) and receiving touchdowns (12). Prior to the serious knee injury in 2019, Bussey had 150 yards and a touchdown on five catches this year.
All told, Bussey accounted for 1,941 yard and 21 touchdowns on 128 receptions during his time in Denton. He also returned a pair of kickoffs for a combined 78 yards.
Bussey was a two-star member of the Class of 2016 for UNT. The Oklahoma native was rated as the No. 32 player regardless of position in the Sooner State.
Bussey will be coming to a Hawaii football team that will be under new management. In mid-January, Nick Rolovich left to take over for Mike Leach at Washington State. A week later, Todd Graham was named as Rolovich’s replacement.
Hawaii football is coming off its best season since 2010. Included in a 10-win season was the program’s first appearance in the Mountain West Conference championship game. Of course, that appearance ended in a loss to Boise State.