When Hawaii freshman All-American wideout Pofele Ashlock was just a high school sophomore, he and his younger brother, Jarvis “Dino” Heimuli, went to live with their maternal grandparents. Mafi and Siope Heimuli resided in Euless, home to a notable Tongan population in Texas, as natives of Tonga.
Ashlock and Heimuli noted that unspecified issues at their prior Texas residence, headed by their mother and stepfather, prompted the move — a blessing disguised by difficult circumstances.
Grandma Mafi and Grandpa Siope took care of them as if they were their own children.
“They mean everything because honestly, that’s really our mother and father,” Ashlock said. “We’ve been with them most of the time, and (our) mom knows. It’s not like we don’t love our momma. We love our mom, but we’ve been with (our grandparents) and we’re grandma and grandpa babies.”
The care they experienced, the customs they learned and the culture they embraced gave them a snapshot of their current chapter.
Ashlock enters his third year with the Rainbow Warriors as a returning starter coming off Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America honors, while Heimuli, also a wide receiver, joins as a true freshman. They always dreamed of the opportunity to play for the same team. Now they have it, in a place representative of their Polynesian roots.
“We got to feel all the customs and all the love,” Heimuli said of their Tongan background.
“Coming here, it’s good seeing and feeling the same love that you feel back home. … We love it here, and we take pride in our Tongan side.”
Before being welcomed to the well-known melting pot that is Hawaii, Ashlock and Heimuli, both born of Tongan and African American ancestry, knew acceptance. Mafi and Siope taught them.
Pofele goes by Ashlock, the last name of their father. Dino is a Heimuli, the last name of their mother. Effectively, they are sons to Mafi and Siope just the same.
“I can never give up because they never gave up on me and they never gave up on my brother, no matter what we were,” Heimuli said. “We’re half Black, so we’re kind of different. … Really, it’s just me and my brothers that are Black and Tongan in our family.
“(Our grandparents) never really treated us different. They always made sure that we had what we needed. If we needed something, they were going to take care of it.”
At every turn, Ashlock still shouldered his fair share of responsibility as big brother to seven siblings, including one who died due to a miscarriage. He still counts, Ashlock said. Ashlock has always put family first.
UH wide receivers coach Jared Ursua learned as much during his recruitment of Heimuli, at which point he fully realized the extent of Ashlock’s role off the field.
On the field, a lot is expected of Ashlock after he led all FBS freshmen with 83 receptions and 832 receiving yards as an unranked recruit out of high school. But for what he has and has yet to accomplish in the sport, his central hope is for Heimuli to do more, for Heimuli to be better than him.
“When you know the family, it makes sense,” Ursua said. “He’s the oldest. … When he goes home, he doesn’t want to spend time with his friends. He wants to spend time with his siblings because he’s a big mentor for them and his other cousins. So you flip that and say, OK, now you put him in football and you see why, naturally, he’s able to be a teammate favorite of locals and mainlanders alike.”