World Wide Warriors: Australia
The Hawai’i basketball program has a long history of international players. As unlikely as this might sound, Michael Harper is the first from Australia to play for the Warriors.
Harper, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, is from Melbourne, and one of seven international players on the 2012-13 roster. Based on his description, Australia has some similarities to Hawai’i.
“It’s the biggest island in the world,” he said of his home country/continent. “Very friendly people, easy to get along with.”
Harper is not the only Australian representing UH athletics this season. The Hawai’i football team has two Aussies in Alex Dunnachie and Scott Harding. Harper said Australian rules football is the most popular sport in his home country, and he played it through high school.
“It’s a pretty rugged sport,” he said. “No pads, full contact, and you can use your hands and feet.”
His experience in that sport may be beneficial as he adjusts to NCAA Division I basketball — he has already proved to be one of the fastest runners among the Warriors during conditioning drills.
Fair dinkum.
Aussie Mum,(thanks for the buildup to MBB season Dayton, this is a great year!!)
Mahalo and Thank you for sharing Michael with UH MBB warrior team! He is a nice young student athlete, hard worker and very good athlete! Michael will help UH MBB win some big games!!
Aloha Aussie Mum,
Nice picture of Michael for UH MBB team 2012-13 roster…..
http://hawaiiathletics.com
http://hawaiiathletics.com
Nice pictures of Isaac, Manroop, Ozren, Christian , Vander, Davis and the whole team!!
Michael is a nice addition to this year’s team. He definitely was one of the surprises in the summer league with a good showing.
There’s some great bball talent in Australia. St. Mary’s has done a great job with their Australian players. Hopefully, Michael and Coach Fish open that UH pipeline to Australia for years to come.
AND I’m SURE Michael also misses his Mum, Family and Home Cooking…
Among the Best in Speed and Agility, Good Shooter…
LOOKIN’ to see Michael among the Many, Great Game Time Bombers to Drive Doubters and Opposition Loopy
I.e., Now Transfer/Translate those skills we see in Practice and Open Gym into The Bright Lights of Game Days…
Michael, Have a Great Career and Great Time here…
Help coaches Fisher and Gib to turn Hawai’i into a Great Aussie
Opportunity and Pipeline!
Aloha and welcome aboard Mr. Harper.
Since UH Compliance Officer Amanda Paterson got NCAA to Re-Review and Approve U.H. Football Player Jordan Puu-Robinson’s Request for Transfer from WSU & Immediate Eligibility to Play for U.H. (Yesterday) without one-year sitting out;
Maybe, Getting NCAA Clearinghouse to Approve Aaron Valdes is Not Far Behind …
His mother must be very proud of him!
Oh and thanks, thanks, thanks Dayton.
Michael should have also spoken about our Tim Tams – really lovely chocolate biscuits that we have over here. Nearly every American that I know in Australia loves our Tim Tam biscuits!
Are there Any Tim Tams in Vanilla or Custard ?
No I don’t think so – they now make double chocolate – mint chocolate – dark chocolate etc etc but I will have a look at the supermarket this weekend and let you all know the different varieties.
I have just asked in the office if they are the best Australian biscuits and they all agree – but there is a bit of dispute as to whether they have gone down hill since they introduced all the new varieties – quite a bit of conversation ensued and plenty of people down here have had a discussion about this – all centred around the warrior insider web site, the UHMBB team, the fans who blog here etc etc and of course Tim Tam biscuits.
Hey we really need Michalel now…Vander out MCL tear. out 4 to 6 weeks, wow! I think Gib cannot RS shirt anyone now!
Hope you stay healthy and strong Michael Harper, would need your scoring, defense and toughness..leadership!!
And Tim Tams!!!!
We need all of them to be strong and healthy!!! Maybe I should bring some Tim Tams over for everyone!
take your vitamin’s Vander, rehab , go swimming ,get the legs strong.see your trainers daily ,we Need You, this is Your Senior Year!!
STRONG Recovery, VANDER !
Hopefully All that Hard Work helps your leg/knee, even MCL surrounding tissue all already be that much more Robust, so Heal Faster, Quicker & Stronger… and that Your MCL Recovery is Sound …
Where Prayers Can Help As Well, Ours With You….
IF Reinforcements of Tim Tams can help,
Sounds like U.H. Players may be Scoring some Soon…
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THAT Puts Rozitis, Standhardinger, Fotu, Dressler, maybe even OZ onto Alert to BE READY TO PLAY 4 and 5 … Trial by Fire TEST of Depth, Development, Growth and Readiness … Time To Step UP…
We’ve had some good athletes from Australia in all sports so maybe Harper could just end up to be another one.
Hey Aussie Mum, are Tim Tams like Portugese Malasadas(a local donut without the whole with cane sugar sprinkled on top, when served hot, very Ono: tasty~?)
Well maybe have to have Vander eat a lot of Tim Tams, or maybe some of his mom’s cooking from Angola shipped over special delivery!!
You moms of the UH MBB are really great! Always looking after your sons! Aloha and Mahalo!!
While i would love for Vander to play this year if he is not 100% he should see if he can medical redshirt. If he wants to, if he has already decided to try ball elsewhere in a year then use him but in his best interest he should think about waiting! I remember Ahmet Gueye was going to be something special but was hurt his last year and did not perform to the level that he could have!
Uhfanzonly1 – no they are not a donut – sorry I used biscuit as the word but I think that the equivalent for you guys would be “a cookie”.
No matter what this has to be Vanders decision. I just reemeber Gueye being latterly slow, and seemed to be missing a couple of inches of vert. If Vander can be 100% use him but make him take it easy at least until the Illinois game 11/16/2012. Very hard road ahead Vander.. At least it wasn’t a Botez!
ROB T,
I understand where you are coming from. We remember Ahmet Gueye and his knee problem. Vander, came back for senior season to get his degree, probably this May 2013 and then go for Pro Ball somewhere. However, you are right, this is a setback, Vander wanted to go out strong this year, have huge senior season and up his stock for pay for play. I don’t think , in my opinion that, unless the knee gets worse, Vander would consider RS..I
think when this season over and degree in hand he will move on..JMO.
No one feels worse than Vander, only bright side, MCL tear not as serious as ACL, which would effectively end his playing days here. I think Vander is going to rehab that knee to as close to 100% as he can, then still come back and help team win a BWC touney title. We all wanted Vander to come back, and man of his word he did..I am sure Gib and entire team feel bad…MCL get swelling down, good blood circulation for area to heal, and MCL to start to repair itself, ice down after practice, workouts games…put on brace, as soon as possible exercise that damaged area…Possible to come back from MCL injury sooner..
Can he rehab enough to be effective center in BW, possibly, case in point: Billy Ray Stuzmann with UH FB team. in a little over 2 weeks(18 days)miraculous!!
, he is cleared to play after having broken bone in hand, amazing…hope Billy is okay.
Our hearts go out to Vander! Mahalo and Aloha for coming back to UH MBB, rehab well, and if that is your desire, go and play to the best of your ability and still have a very good senior season. Stay positive.
Hey I wonder if that treatment that Bobby Curran swears by, could help Vander recover sooner? Maybe, ..Hey Bobby if you are reading this, contact Gib and see if UH can get that treatment with that machine..you say it does wonders..maybe Billy Ray did the same..thing? Worth a shot…?That machine that fixes molecular structure of injured areas of bodies..lot of athletes used it, and sped recovery, they felt better…no drugs, just helps body heal self..I don’t know, anything worth a try, maybe ? Anyone know the name of that treatment?
Aussie Mum,
I just sent you an e-mail … thank you!
You are correct, Tim Tams just might be a cure all. Certainly makes me feel good all over.
Bobby Curran (808) 296-1420, talks about the Vasper Systems 808 679-1268 which is supposed to help the body boost its own Generation of HGH, which may help more rapid healing — might help, HGH has few/no negative side effects…
Should Call, At Least Inquire…
Consulted with “Sebastian” [Honolulu Founder] of Vasper Systems…
He spoke with Great Confidence, that absolutely, Boosting HGH does speed up (all) healing (and performance) processes… (but did Not believe that this was used to help Billy Ray Stutzman’s rapid recovery)…
NOW, just need a few OR MANY of us to help plant the bug in Coach Gib and DOBO (Director of Basketball Operations and Certified Trainer) Chris McMillan’s ears … they may already know of this …
IF NOT, several Great Teachers taught me that it takes “at least” three times hearing a new concept or idea before even a “trained, disciplined mind” can wrap itself around a concept, evaluate and consider — for Most people it can take 30 to 60 cycles of continuous (uninterrupted, unmitigated) repetition for many to consider a new idea or concept…
{Comentary: Hence the popularity of Bud and Bud Light, which almost ALWAYS LOSES double-blind taste tests to Miller or Coors ….BUT they do put numerous triggers in front of our eyes including some of the better beer and Superbowl commercials}
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uhfan, Were you thinking of Vasper?
(i think “Natural Systems” like Vasper need to be mainstreamed to advance our human race AND minimize/eliminate the disease of ‘aging’; and that Pro Teams will eventually come around to this….because of the absence of negative side effects, unlike steroids and other detrimental PEDs)
Were you also thinking of another system?
EGS, etc. i think there’s many;
such as i’m Reiki/Healing Touch Certified…