University of Hawai'i cornerback Calvin Roberts is a believer in making the best of a situation.

Roberts was set to sign with San Jose State only to have his scholarship offer rescinded.

"San Jose State never came through. ... I think I made the best choice I could make. The man upstairs wanted me to be here, so I made the best of it," Roberts said.

Because of a low Academic Progress Rate score, the Spartans were forced to void their scholarship offer, and Roberts was a casualty.

"They had to remove a scholarship, and I guess I was the one," Roberts said.

After reaching out to the Warriors, they offered him a scholarship last July. After adjusting to the program's defensive schemes last season, Roberts is practicing as the fifth defensive back in both the okie and nickel packages. He is also on the second unit at cornerback.

"If we go okie, once (Ryan) Mouton moves inside, then Calvin goes to the corner. So even if he didn't start for us, which he still may, then he would play in our nickel and okie packages," UH associate head coach/defensive backs coach Rich Miano said.

While Roberts initially committed to San Jose State to stay close to his family and daughter Layla, he felt Hawai'i was also a good option.

"I contacted Hawai'i, and we connected," he said. "It was out of the blue. I always liked it; I liked my trip over here, but San Jose was so close and I had my baby so I wanted to stay close, but it didn't work out, so I just came back here."

He arrived more than a week after the start of fall camp in 2007, and it took about half a season before things "clicked."

"I started to know the defense and the players, and I adjusted," said Roberts, who played in eight games in 2007 as a reserve defensive back.

Miano said it typically takes about a year for a junior college player to adapt to the system.

"He had to learn a new system, techniques, the verbiage is different," Miano said. "We knew he had talent, but he's really made that jump."

One of Roberts' strengths is that "he really wants to do good," Miano said. "I call him the hardest working man in show business because he gets out here and you can hear the breath in his voice, the hustle in his talk, the sparkle in his eye."

Roberts and fellow cornerback Richard Torres are the "technicians at corner in terms of doing things correctly," Miano said.

Over the summer, Roberts went home and worked out Monday through Friday.

"I kept my speed together and got stronger and worked on my lower body," he said.

Players like Roberts, Mouton and Jameel Dowling have a sense of urgency because it is their final collegiate season and they are working to reach their potential, Miano said.

"If there's one, two, three, four (on the depth chart), then (Roberts is) three and he's not far away from being two. (Ryan) Mouton is just so much more athletic, that he's number one. Calvin could be the number two guy. He and Jameel will battle it out, and J.P. (Davis) isn't that far behind at four. Jeramy Bryant has come a long way, too."

The three-sport athlete in high school — Roberts also played baseball and basketball — said that he is considering trying out for the UH baseball team in 2009.

"I might give it a try, we'll see how it goes," the former center fielder said.