An on-again, off-again football courtship has been resolved happily with a speedy junior-college cornerback accepting a scholarship from the University of Hawai'i.

Calvin Roberts of the College of San Mateo said he will join the Warriors for the Aug. 2 start of training camp.

Roberts, who can run 40 yards in 4.45 seconds, has two years to play two seasons.

"Everything worked out," said the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Roberts.

San Mateo coach Larry Owens said: "He did a great job for us at corner. He's a big, physical corner. He has very good man-to-man skills."

Roberts is completing a circuitous route to Manoa.

In January, Roberts, who was raised in the Bay Area, withdrew a verbal commitment to San Jose State.

After visiting UH, he opted not to accept the Warriors' scholarship offer, deciding he preferred to remain in the Bay Area. He then re-committed to San Jose State.

But the Spartans had a low Academic Progress Rate score, and were stripped of seven football scholarships. They were forced to rescind the scholarship offer to Roberts.

With UH out of football scholarships, Roberts decided to sign a scholarship agreement with Northwestern State, a Division I-AA school in Louisiana. Unlike a letter of intent, the school — not the player — is bound to a scholarship agreement. When a UH scholarship recently became available, Roberts was allowed to escape his commitment from Northwestern State.

"Hawai'i was always my No. 1 choice," Roberts said. "It's working out pretty good."

Roberts needs to pass a biology class to earn enough transferrable credits to be eligible this season. He said San Mateo's summer session ends July 27.

Roberts was a three-sport athlete at El Camino in South San Francisco.

He played football for City College of San Francisco in the fall of 2004, and baseball for Skyline College in the spring of 2005. He redshirted at San Mateo in 2005, and was the starting cornerback last season.

Roberts will be reunited with former San Mateo teammates Francis Maka and Ray Hisatake, both of whom enrolled at UH in January.

SAMPLE TO PLAY IN JAPAN

Former UH wideout Ian Sample has signed a contract to play in Japan's X League. Sample will play for IBM Japan.

In addition to free housing and transportation, he will receive a $30,000 stipend.

The season starts in September, and the playoffs are in January. If it works out, IBM will likely hire Sample as an English teacher during the offseason.

Sample has written a book, "Once a Warrior," that will be published next month.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.