Introducing Brandon Jawato
The Hawaii basketball team has added yet another player from the Southern California area.
Brandon Jawato, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound guard/forward, is enrolled in summer classes at UH and has started working out with the Warriors. He was a standout at El Segundo High in Los Angeles the past two seasons.
“I had a good connection with Coach Gib Arnold and I love it out here – it reminds me of back home where I grew up in Bali,” Jawato said. “And the team has really cool guys, and I enjoy being here at the University of Hawaii.”
Jawato averaged around 20 points and 10 rebounds per game last season at El Segundo High, and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division 4A team. He played both guard positions in high school, and was even asked to play in the post at times.
Jawato will be a freshman during the 2011-12 season and will have four seasons of eligibility.
Three other incoming freshmen are also from the Southern California area: Dillon Biggs, Gerry Blakes and Ronnie Stevens. Jawato said he is familiar with all three players.
Jawato said he was also considering Idaho State, UC Irvine and Saint Louis. “Hawaii it is,” he said. “I love it out here.”
Jawato will also be participating in the Hawaii College Basketball Summer League, and is hoping to join the Warriors on their trip to Asia in August.
this guy looks great in high school! he does outside, middle and inside scoring well. good ball handler, good shooter and good court presence. add gib’s tenacious defensive skills and he’ll be a star for sure. very exciting season coming!!!
Welcome Aboard, Brandon !
i have a lot of respect for the other school options you had — Thanks for choosing Hawai’i … HOW does this compare to BALI ?
UH Fans — Thanks for the intro Dayton; Brandon has all the pedigree (4A All-CIF) that would make him a promising signee / walk-on even in the regular signing periods: size & scoring / shooting skills; steady game inside – outside, both three and mid-range games, good BB-IQ.
Glad Brandon can make the trip AND get his feet wet in school as well — hope the rest of Cal-recruits also clear and join soon …
Also: GREAT Starts, Shaq, Hans ! Welcome to Hawai’i!
Haven’t seen Jawato play in summer league ,has anyone watched his play,how is he doing with the level of competition so far, 4A Cif ,is this upper or lower echelon of Calif. hs basketball? Handling skills as good as Zane, Josten ?
Brandon looks like a good all-around player. Man, the talent just keeps coming to Hawaii. Good choice Brandon. No place like Hawaii!
With so much talent coming in can’t wait for the season to start.
Since some have been inquiring about Vander Joaquim, here is my understanding of his situation:
He is currently training/competing with Angola’s national team. There is still one more series of roster cuts that needs to made. If Vander is not selected to the national team, he will return to Hawaii.
If he does make the team, they will play in an Olympic qualifying tournament in August. If Angola wins that tournament, they will qualify for the 2012 Olympics and Vander may be asked to stay with them to train.
If Angola does not win the qualifying tournament, Vander should have time to return to UH for fall semester.
Don’t know how good Angola is in comparison with other African teams, but they basically have to be the best country there to make the Olympics.
Stay tuned. Who would have thought Hawaii fans would become so interested in the results of Angola?
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A discussion thread on this topic has been started on the “Insider Forum” (click at top right of this page).
Just FYI,
According to FIBA, Angola is the 13th ranked team in the world. Just behind Germany and before France. They are ranked #1 in FIBA Africa, ahead by a lot. If Vander makes the team, there is a good chance that Angola can win their qualifying tournament to get into the Olympics.
I would guess (or hope) that Vander and/or UH would request some type of an excused absence from the Angola officials so that he could return to classes at UH for the season.
The UH season would end in March, which would still give him sufficient time to return to Angola and prepare for the summer Olympics (if they make it).
This guy is REAL. Definitely a great choice, i have seen him play ball and he is amazing. He has so much power and skills that he will be a great fit into Hawaii. Plus all the girls love seem to love him so he would have a problem adjusting. This kid is going to go big, Goodluck Brandon
He looks like he might have a problem defending at the division 1 level>>>
RE: Hoops
As hard as ALL the Players work, and given Gib’s predilection for sitting “Scorers” in favor of Good Defenders (e.g., Joston Thomas sitting while Trevor Wiseman started most of the season — perhaps because he has so many shooters/scorers he can put on the floor), i would fully expect that Brandon is going to have to Learn AND DISPLAY Good Defensive skills to earn any significant PT —
Brandon appears to be a hard worker AND physically strong so i expect he’ll be (or become) a decent defender.
Extract From Insider Forum Thread: (Posted earlier today):
Brandon’s doing good in the NCAA Summer League (wish they published Stats);
GIB From this Morning’s Bobby Curran Show RE: Brandon:
RECAP / Excerpts from Coach Gib and Bobby: (by phone from AAU Tourney in Las Vegas); Original AM1420 / Re-Broadcast AM1500 Monday July 25 ;
— likely Re-Broadcast by Animals from 3-6 pm AM 1420
“One player who’s already here is BRANDON JAWATO 6-4, who we recruited All Year; and we were always number one on his list; he was league MVP, All-City, All -CIF, he’ll be a real good player for us, probably backing up Zane this year…”
We’ll be fine with the players we have !
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Note to Farbod: Don’t Get what the girls see …