Warrior Insider

Jordan Coleman took a chance on the Hawaii basketball team, and now he’s waiting for his chance to shine as a Warrior.

Coleman, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, has had minimal opportunities to play this season, but that hasn’t discouraged him from working toward becoming a part of the playing rotation.

“Just keep working hard,” he said. “Going hard in practice every time. Sometimes I doze off and lag a little bit. But if I can keep going 100 percent every time, I feel like I’ll be good.”

Coleman is one of the best athletes on the team – he was one of the fastest runners and highest jumpers during preseason conditioning drills. But at a lithe 175 pounds, Coleman is still building physical strength.

Still, he is anxiously awaiting his turn to showcase the skills that made him a star player at Calabasas High in California.

“An athletic guard who can drive, especially in transition,” is how he described his style of play.

Although Coleman is one of four freshman under first-year head coach Gib Arnold, he was recruited to Hawaii by the previous coach, Bob Nash.

“At first I was nervous, I didn’t really know if I was going to come here or not,” Coleman said of his reaction after Nash was released and Arnold was hired. “But after meeting Gib and all the coaches, they made it more comfortable.”

Coleman’s roommate is fellow freshman Bo Barnes. They live in the same dormitory as freshmen teammates Bobby Miles and Trevor Wiseman, and the four first-year players have formed a helpful friendship.

For example, Coleman said Barnes served as his alarm clock during the preseason, when they had to wake up for 6 a.m. workouts.

“I don’t think I would be able to get up without (Barnes),” Coleman said. “Definitely having a freshman with you makes it a lot better.”

Although Barnes often has to wake Coleman for morning workouts, Coleman does not cut Barnes any slack when it comes to video games.

They often engage in long games of NBA 2K11, and Coleman claims he wins every time.

“He can pretty much pick any team and I’ll still beat him,” Coleman said.

As for his first name and jersey number, Coleman said it has nothing to do with basketball legend Michael Jordan. He said he wanted a single-digit number for his jersey, but numbers 1 through 5 were all taken by the time it was his turn.

“Freshmen get the last pick, so (23) was the best number I saw,” he said.

(Photo by Brandon Flores)