It was the splash heard 'round Manoa.

With University of Hawai'i football teammates chanting — "Three Plus! ... Three Plus!" — 6-foot-6 1/2, 360-pound Kavan Bannigan stepped to the edge of the 10-meter-high board.

Then Three Plus jumped.

Only his teammates' collective roar drowned out the sound of the splat.

"I was surprised there was still water left in the pool after that," senior safety Leonard Peters said.

"That," UH coach June Jones, "was something you don't see everyday."

It was part of the annual welcome-to-the-Warriors ceremony. Each year, the first-year players are asked to jump from the nose-bleed board at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," said cornerback Gerard Lewis, who transferred from a junior college this summer. "There's a lot of peer pressure. I decided to jump."

The trouble was, Lewis' hands were frozen to the railing.

"I had a hard time letting go," Lewis said. "I can swim, but that was too high. I'm afraid of heights. It was kind of scary. I decided to focus on looking forward. I told myself: Do not look down. I jumped, and it wasn't too bad. There was a little pain, but I'm a football player. I've felt worse."

Left wideout Jason Rivers, a fourth-year junior who sat out last season to focus on academics, volunteered to jump.

"I never did it when I was a freshman," Rivers said. "I figured if these freshmen can do it, I'd better do it."

Rivers' landing was smooth.

"I'm a local boy," said Rivers, who was raised in Waipahu. "This is nothing for me. It's Waimea (Bay)."

Peters, who wore a water polo cap, resembled a World War I pilot. The sixth-year senior encouraged the rookies.

"This is lower than La'ie Point," he said, a reference to the popular North Shore diving spot.

Jason Laumoli, a 272-pound running back, misjudged the distance. He landed in a sitting position, as if he were ejected from a fighter plane. "I hit my butt," he said. "I think I jumped it wrong."

After some coaxing, defensive end Elliott Purcell jumped.

And then it was Bannigan's turn.

"I was ready, but they told me to go last," Bannigan said. "I guess they wanted to save the best for last."

Bannigan said his nickname has a two-fold origin.

"At first, they said I looked like one of the singers from the group Three Plus," he said, patting his stomach. "It doesn't help that I am three (hundred) plus."

In all, every rookie jumped.

"It was good," Peters said. "No 911 and no lifeguards on duty."

Yesterday also marked check-out time at the "University Hilton," the two on-campus dance studios where the players lived for the first 15 days of training camp.

The players now can live in the dormitories, off-campus housing or their family homes.

"It's the end of sleeping in the studios," punter Kurt Milne said. "Not that I don't mind the bonding experience or those, uh, great beds, but it's time to move on."

Defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis added: "Too much bonding. We've got a whole year to bond. I'm glad I can go home and sleep in my own bed and not have to hear 100 guys snoring."

Every year, moving day coincides with the pool day, in which the practice is cut short to allow the players to swim. The only requirement is practice can't end until a successful field goal is made.

"I've been here a long time," said Milne, a fifth-year senior, who doubles as kicker Daniel Kelly's holder. "I know the deal."

So, too, did his teammates. After the Warriors completed a two-minute drill, Jones yelled out "Field goal!"

Then Jones started to count down from 10.

Kelly's kick from 46 yards was true, triggering a wild celebration.

"I have never felt that much pressure, and I played against USC as a true freshman," Kelly said. "It was ridiculous. It was fun. It was a lot of pressure. But come on. We've got Alabama coming up. If I can't make it in front of my peers, how am I going to make it (in Alabama) in front of a bunch of guys who hate my guts and want to kill me?"

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.