Signed, sealed, delivered — they’re Warriors
After months of rumors and speculation, Hawaii basketball head coach Gib Arnold was finally able to announce the official signings of three players on Friday.
Dillon Biggs, Hauns Brereton and DeShawn Mitchell can now be called Warriors after signing their respective letters of intent. It’s no coincidence that all three are wing players who can play multiple positions.
“These three student-athletes give us great versatility,” Arnold said. “All three can play multiple positions—from the 2 to 4 spots. We instantly got more athletic and also gained maturity with a pair of players with Division I backgrounds.”
The 6-foot-7 Brereton played at Northern Colorado as a freshman, then transferred to Western Nebraska Community College for his sophomore season. He will be a junior at Hawaii next season.
The 6-5 Mitchell played at UNLV as a freshman, then played at Snow College (Utah) for his sophomore season. He will be a junior at Hawaii next season.
The 6-7 Biggs just completed his senior season of high school at Dorsey High in Los Angeles. He will be a freshman at UH, and will have four seasons of eligibility.
Arnold was unavailable for a video interview on Friday, so assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Benjy Taylor provided some insight in the video above.
Below are Arnold’s comments on the three recruits, as provided by the UH media relations department.
Coach Arnold on Biggs: “Dillon possesses phenomenal potential and the sky’s the limit for him. He’s a long, athletic playmaker who played in one of the best conferences in the country. He competed against top-notch talent every night so he’s used to playing at a high level. I think UH fans can look forward to him providing numerous aerial highlights and should enjoy watching him progress over the years.”
Coach Arnold on Brereton: “Hauns enjoyed one of the best seasons in junior college as evidenced by his All-America status. He’s a mature player with a mature game and should provide leadership. Hauns has a great inside-outside game. He can score in the block and out at the three-point line. He shoots a high percentage from all parts of the floor and is a solid rebounder. What’s most impressive with Hauns is his outstanding academic record as a straight-A student. We’re also thrilled that he has strong family ties in Hawai’i—his mother is from here and his uncle is Al Harrington. We consider this a homecoming for Hauns.”
Coach Arnold on Mitchell: “DeShawn was one of the most dynamic scorers in the entire country. He was the fourth-leading scorer in junior college. He’s a very active player and very good rebounder. I really like his length and athleticism at the guard position.”
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As far as WarriorInsider.com is concerned, Hauns Brereton is already off to a great start.
First, he provided the two photos on this page, which were taken during an announcement at Western Nebraska of his signing with UH. After signing his letter of intent with Hawaii, he put on an aloha shirt and puka-shell necklace.
Then, when informed that the only video clips available of him online were from his high school career, Brereton said he would get game video from his coaches at Western Nebraska and create a video for WarriorInsider.com.
All indications are that Brereton has the potential to make an immediate impact on the court next season. It’s apparent by the creation of this video that he cares and is willing to work. Those are pretty good attributes to start.
Here is his video (check out the special message he added at the end of the clip):
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Bo Barnes is leaving the Warriors because he wants to play closer to his home in Arizona, and possibly on the same team with his younger brother. He comes from a tight-knit family (his mother accompanied him on a recruiting trip to Hawaii a year ago), and that’s cool.
Still, his departure is disappointing on many levels.
For starters, he was a hard-working freshman who was bound to improve over the next three seasons. He already set the UH freshman record for 3-pointers in a season, and would have shattered the school’s career mark had he stayed for all four seasons.
Second, with the addition of several athletic wing players, Barnes would have played a key role in the offense. The Warriors will have several “slashers” next season, and Barnes could have been one of the benefactors of a “drive-and-kick” scheme.
Most of all, he will be missed as a good guy. He is an outstanding student with a humble personality. He often answered interview questions with a “yes, sir” or “no, sir” and always finished with a “thank you.” That – combined with his ability to shoot over a zone defense – will be difficult to replace.
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Don’t forget about the annual awards banquet.
It is scheduled for Thursday, April 21, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. No-host cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m., with dinner and program to start around 6:30.
Tickets are $100 per peson.
The players and coaches from the 2010-11 team will be honored for their efforts during a 19-13 season that finished with an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
It is also a good chance for fans to mingle with the players and coaches — and get autographs and take pictures — in a relaxed environment.
For more information please visit www.hawaiiathletics.com or call the UH basketball office at 956-6501.
This is awesome! Everything is looking up for next season. Thanks for giving us the heads up on Barnes. Good to know his a good kid.
aloha bo!
warrior forever.
Aloha Hawaii! This is Hauns and I’m so excited to come to the islands and play for the University of Hawaii! I’m coming to work hard for the program. I feel we got what it takes and we are going to work for NCAA tourney run!
I’m not only going to put forth the work on the court but in the classroom as well. University of Hawaii has a unique international business program that I want to learn from. I hope to represent the University of Hawaii through my athletic pursuits to go pro in basketball, and throughout the world when I decide to stop dribbling the ball and pursue international business.
I’m coming to play for the islands! And I’m going to bring it!
Sincerely,
Hauns
Hauns looks legit. I think he will surprise a lot of people. I can see him making first team all league!!!
Welcome Hauns, I always think it’s pretty cool and when a student-athlete takes the time to join the Warrior Ohana to comment on our local forums. It always helps to have family here on the islands but once you get a taste of our delicious local food and world-renown beaches, (the wahines too), you will never want to leave. Good luck with off-season training and tell your new teammates to work on the free-throws….that killed us a little this year : )
Welcome Hauns,can’t wait to see you play in November!
talofa hauns!
looking forward to seeing you on the hardwood and in the community. you and the other new members of our rainbow warriors have brought excitement back to our basketball program
i hope the orient tour comes to fruition as it will be a great venue to spread the aloha as well having the team and staff connect blending the new guys with the returnees.
I think Hauns will have his own fan club pretty quick. Looking forward to seeing his uncle Al Harrington at the games. For sure, the band should be playing Hawaii Five-O!!!!! It should be a blast next season. The program should already start selling season’s tickets. Mark my words, there is great interest out there and the excitement of UH basketball is back. Fans are starved for an exciting team. If Gib Arnold puts an exciting and outstanding winning product on the court, the arena will be sold out.
Me and my friends are all more excited about basketball than football at UH, it’s been a LONG time since that has happened.
Well, Dayton, with Brereton’s basketball and video-editing skills, you may have someone who can step into Amis’ shoes on and off the court. Coming next season to a blog site near you, “Hauns’ & Zane’s” Excellent Adventures.
Welcome to Warrior nation Hauns, can’t wait to see you play next year!
Hauns has very good offensive skills.Seems like he has a good inside and outside game.Would be interesting to see were the media will pick Hawaii to finish in the conference.
Bruddah Hauns to me has that Larry Bird type game to him. Tough, Moves well without the ball, High IQ, can light it up inside and outside, deceptive speed, rebounding, and ballhandling skills… I like what he brings to the team. The one attribute you can tell as you watch him play is that leadership ability to carry the team. Seems like one of those guys who wants the ball in clutch situations. I think he should fit in well with what Coach Gib is trying to do… We got some big time athletic guys coming in and I think Hauns will be that steady force and like Trevor Wiseman will give you those tough minutes and play hard.
Bo Barnes leaving is kind of surprising but as long as he’s still ballin. I thought Bo was a guy that if he could’ve work on his one on one skills and be able to create his own shot he could’ve been deadly. He wasn’t the most athletic or quick guy but he played hard. I think with the players coming in it would’ve allowed Bo to be that spot up guy that could just float around the perimeter and knock down bombs all day. Either way, I don’t think it’s going to hurt the team without him. I think Coach Gib is finally able to bring in players that can run and score from anywhere. Seems like he’s finally getting those athletic type ballers that are multi-dimensional players to run the type of offense that will be exciting and put up points on the scoreboard.