University of Nevada Las Vegas

UNLV: A returning starter who will look for time at the Rebel Jack position this fall … Name is pronounced “MAL-ah-khy sah-LEW.” 

2020: Started all six games at linebacker as a sophomore … Finished sixth on the team with 28 total tackles. 

2019: Earned his first letter as a Rebel by appearing in all 12 games … Finished with 10 total tackles, including one TFL for 13 yards. 

2018: Redshirted season by playing in four games or less under new NCAA rules … Appeared in the first four games before sitting out the remainder of the campaign … Did not record a statistic. 

HIGH SCHOOL: A 2018 graduate of Central Catholic HS … Rated as a three-star prospect, No. 16 overall player in the Beaver State and the No. 82 inside linebacker in the country by 247Sports coming out of high school … A three-year letterwinner under coach Steve Pyne … Helped the Rams to back-to-back state championship runner-up finishes his junior and senior years in 2016 and 2017 … As a senior, recorded 85 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, and an interception return for a touchdown … Senior year performance earned him Mt. Hood Conference Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-State and All-Conference selections and a Polynesian All-America nod … Was a National Football Foundation Scholarship recipient in 2017 … Recorded 120 tackles as a junior in 2016 … Was a first team all-conference and second team all-state selection that year and was named Defensive Player of the Game in the 6A State Championship. 

PERSONAL: Malakai Vave Salu was born in Portland, OR … The son of Paula and Ace Salu … Comes from an athletic family as older brother Nate currently plays football at Portland State and older brother TJ plays at Navy … Father, Ace, also played at Portland State in the late-1980s … Majoring in management.