Vander Joaquim returns
Fans of the Hawaii basketball team can exhale now.
Vander Joaquim has made his way back to Hawaii.
A whirlwind summer with the Angola national team fueled rumors that the 6-foot-10 center may not return to play for the Warriors. Joaquim, however, said his plan always included a junior season with Hawaii.
“I was planning to come back,” he said. “I just wanted to get experience with my (Angola) team and just come prepared for this season.”
Joaquim, a 6-foot-10 junior center, returned to Honolulu last week, and is expected to start training with his teammates this week. He said it required three days of traveling to get from Angola to Honolulu, including stops in London and New York.
“It was a long ride,” he said.
Joaquim averaged 9.5 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season.
He played in several summer tournaments with Angola, including the Africa Cup – which was a qualifier for the 2012 Olympics.
Angola lost in the championship game of the Africa Cup, but still has a shot at qualifying for the Olympics. Angola will play in the final qualifying tournament in the summer of 2012.
“We still have one more tournament to go, so our hope’s not over yet,” he said.
Welcome Back! Big Fella
Welcome back, indeed. How neat would be if Vander gets to play in the 2012 Games.
good experience for vander and can see him becoming a first team all-WAC player and all-defensive player with blocks and rebounds
HUGE
We’ll make splash this season…. Welcome home Vander!!
Welcome back Vander!!!!
Welcome come back big guy!
Vander being back is key. We’re still thin up front, but Vander will give us solid minutes, both offensively and defensively. I wonder how often we’ll see Vander and Davis in at the same time as twin towers?
It’s terrific to see Vander back and working out with the team. Looking forward to a great season with Vander, the other returnees and the new additions.
looking forward to this year’s team.
but, really looking forward to the team in two years and that would include vander, rozitis, standhardinger, wiseman, thomas, brereton, biggs, blakes, stokes, jefferson, miles, jawato, minns, and one pure shooter.
Aloha Brudda Van!