Rex Sunahara

Early life

Sunahara was born on October 9, 1996. He is of Japanese descent via his father Reed, who came from Hawaii and is the head coach of the women's volleyball program at University of Hawai’i at Hilo.His younger brother RJ played college basketball for Georgia.

He attended Bay High School, where he played varsity baseball, football, and basketball. He played as a wide receiver and defensive back in high school. In his senior year, he earned All-Ohio Division IV Third Team honors.

After high school, he committed to the University of Rhode Island in order to remain a multi-sport athlete and converted to playing long snapper.

University of Rhode Island

Sunahara played football at Rhode Island and walked on to the basketball team. During the football season, he appeared in eight games as the long snapper and recorded 4 special teams tackles. During the basketball season, he appeared in 3 games and logged 1 rebound. After his first year at Rhode Island, Sunahara decided to transfer to West Virginia and attempt to walk-on to the football team.

West Virginia University

Sunahara walked on to the West Virginia football team before the 2016 season and served as a backup to Nick Meadows for two years. In 2018, Sunahara became the Mountaineers starting long snapper. Over the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Sunahara started 24 games and recorded 4 special teams tackles. Following the 2019 season, Sunahara was named a Patrick Mannelly Award Semifinalist. He was also invited to participate in the 2020 NFLPA Collegiate All-Star Game and the 2020 Hula Bowl All-Star Game.