Warrior Insider

Trevor Wiseman is exactly what his last name states, and that is why he is earning valuable minutes as a true freshman forward with the Hawaii basketball team.

“In high school, I was mainly the scorer, but here, this year, I’m not really the scorer, so I just want to contribute the best way I can to the team,” Wiseman said. “So I play defense as well as I can.”

After just three games in a NCAA Division I uniform, Wiseman is already emerging as a defensive specialist for the Warriors, who are off to a 3-0 start.

In the championship game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, head coach Gib Arnold summoned Wiseman off the bench in the closing minutes to defend Central Michigan’s top scorer, Trey Zeigler. Wiseman responded by forcing a crucial turnover in the closing seconds, helping the Warriors to a 65-62 victory.

“I like it,” he said. “The game is full of defense, that’s how you win games.”

Oddly enough, Wiseman said he wasn’t much of a defender last season as a senior at Golden Valley High in California, mainly because he had to carry much of the offensive load for his team.

Wiseman averaged 20.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a high school senior, and played wherever the team needed him, whether it was point guard or center.

“I think I was just lazy in high school because I didn’t really have to do anything (defensively),” he said. “Now I stepped my game up. I’m trying to be a good offensive player and a good defensive player.”

Wiseman said he gets daily defensive training in practice because he often has to defend senior forward Bill Amis.

“Trev is one of our best defenders,” Amis said. “He guards me every day in practice; he pushes me real hard.”

Wiseman also knows how to have fun. He is considered one of the pranksters on the team, and always seems to have a smile ready to go.

“I’m the funny guy around here … I like to laugh, I don’t like to be too serious,” he said. “But I can get serious.”

Especially on defense. And when it comes to family.

Wiseman said his toughest adjustment to college life has been being away from his family. Well, that and a dorm-room bed that’s too small for a 6-foot-7 freshman.

“I miss my mom’s home cooking … and my bed,” he said with a laugh.

He also misses his uncle, Greg Cassel, who recently passed away. Wiseman said he will try to change his jersey number next season from 20 to 31 because his uncle’s birthday was Dec. 31.

(Photo by Brandon Flores)