The Dickerson brothers are on the move.

Todd Dickerson, who played wide receiver and cornerback for Yuba (junior) College in California the past two seasons, is joining the University of Hawai'i football team.

His older brother, Ross Dickerson, UH's starting right wideout, has been named the Warriors' top kick returner.

The Dickersons will be teammates for the time since 2001, when both attended Saint Louis School.

"It'll be good to play with him again," Todd said.

Todd Dickerson attended Saint Louis through his junior year. He attended Waipahu High School as a senior.

At Yuba, which is a 45-minute drive north of Sacramento, he was named to the All-Bay Valley Conference first team as an all-purpose player in 2004 and 2005.

"He's an all-around guy," Yuba coach Ted Hoal said. "He played slot, both corners and a little free safety for us. He also returned kicks and punts. He was on the field quite a bit."

After receiving offers from several four-year colleges, Todd Dickerson made an easy decision.

"I always wanted to play for my home state," he said.

He will have three years to play two seasons at UH.

At UH, Todd Dickerson will compete at cornerback. He said he is 5 feet 8 and 180 pounds, and can run 40 yards in 4.51 seconds.

In the meantime, UH coach June Jones said Ross Dickerson will succeed Andre Taylor as the Warriors' kick returner. Taylor, a senior, will not play this season because of "personal reasons," Jones confirmed yesterday.

Jones said Dickerson was awarded the job because "he was one of the better ones we've had do it, and he's a senior."

In 2003, Dickerson fielded his first NCAA kickoff and raced 100 yards for a touchdown. He averaged 24.0 yards on 17 kick returns that year. He had 14 kick returns (21.4-yard average) in 2004.

But last year, Dickerson said, "coach (Jones) wanted me to focus on doing the receiver thing a little bit."

Taylor and A.J. Martinez handled the kick returns last season. Martinez is listed as a starting cornerback on the most recent depth chart.

Dickerson said he was told yesterday he would be the kick returner this season. "I'm excited about that," he said.

UH assistant coach Mouse Davis said: "He's a good returner. When he really hits it, he's got enough moves to make guys miss. He has good speed. He'll really help us improve our return game, no question."

Dickerson said he has fully recovered from surgery to repair an injured left ankle. He suffered the injury in August 2004 when he stepped off a curb awkwardly while jogging. He said he was trying to side-step a woman walking her dog.

Despite the injury, he played in all 25 games during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Last year, he was seventh among Western Athletic Conference players in receiving yards (60.4 per game) and catches (4.25 per game).

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.