UPDATED: Warriors win on Senior Night
Closing out the regular season and sending its three impactful seniors out with a bang, Hawai’i held off Cal State Fullerton, 81-77, Saturday night in thrilling Big West Conference men’s basketball action.
A pumped-up “White-Out” Senior Night crowd of 8,688 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Isaac Fotu score 18 points and senior forward Christian Standhardinger add 17 points and 15 rebounds as the Rainbow Warriors improved to 20-10 overall and finished the Big West regular season in fourth place at 9-7. The Titans fell to 11-19, 6-10.
The last time a Hawai’i team won 20 games was the 2003-04 season. The last time a Hawai’i team finished in the top four of its conference was the 2005-06 season.
UH will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s Big West Tournament in Anaheim, Calif., beginning with Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 5 seed Cal State Northridge.
“It was very emotional tonight,” said senior swingman Brandon Spearman, who scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half and added five rebounds, two steals and one assist. “This definitely was a big win, and we’ll be ready for the conference tournament.”
Senior center Davis Rozitis made his first start of the season, in part so that he could help provide a defensive spark alongside fellow seniors Brandon Spearman and Stanhardinger. Rozits, who contributed two points and four rebounds, said he and his classmates were determined to not extend the program’s Senior Night losing streak to three games.
“We fired up the team,” Rozitis said. “We told them that is not going to happen.”
Cal State Fullerton, to its credit, tried everything it could to spoil the seniors’ plans.
Standhardinger’s two free throws with 4:01 remaining put the Rainbow Warriors ahead for good at 66-65, after the Titans’ Alex Harris drained a high-arching 3-pointer to put Fullerton up, 65-64, with 4:35 left.
Hawai’i opened the lead to 74-67 after Shamburger’s two free throws with 1:18 remaining, but the Titans later closed it to 75-72 on Josh Gentry’s 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left after two long offensive rebounds, then Michael Williams drained another 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds remaining to cut it to 78-77.
Keith Shamburger sank the first of two free throws to make it 79-77 with 14.9 seconds showing, but he missed the second and Cal State Fullerton grabbed the rebound. Williams, however, then inexplicably launched a Hail Mary shot from just past halfcourt with about 10 seconds still remaining. It missed badly and a held-ball after the scramble for the rebound gave the Rainbow Warriors possession.
Shamburger was quickly fouled again with 4.1 seconds showing and sank two free throws to make it 81-77, and the Titans could only manage a short miss at the buzzer.
Shamburger scored all 14 of his points from the free throw line in the second half, with only two misses. He made 12 of 14 from the line in the final 2:28.
“I put the ball in Keith’s hands, and he delivered,” UH coach Gib Arnold said. “That is what a good point guard is supposed to do.”
Standhardinger’s 3-pointer from the top of the key broke a 30-30 tie with 6:40 remaining in the first half, and he followed it with a three-point play with Garrett Nevels adding a short drop shot to make it 38-30 with 3:38 left. After Cal State Fullerton closed it to 40-35 on Gentry’s 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining, Nevels drained a 3-pointer and Standhardinger added a free throw to put Hawai’i ahead, 44-35, at halftime.
The Rainbow Warriors opened the lead to 53-40 on Nevels’ baseline jumper four minutes into the second half, but the Titans chipped away and eventually tied it at 56-56 with 10:22 left on a breakaway slam dunk by Marquis Horne.
The teams then traded baskets over the next six minutes until Standhardinger’s free throws gave UH the lead for good at 66-65 with 4:01 remaining.
After the game, the three seniors were honored in the traditional postgame ceremony, each taking their final dunk and then being draped with lei and continuous hugs as a video tribute to each played on the scoreboard video screen. Then they went around the first row of the arena to sign autographs for the next hour, with Standhardinger signing his last team photo and taking his final picture with three young fans at 10:38 p.m. — about 90 minutes after the final horn.
“It was a great win, because it was so emotional and we wanted to win so badly for those three seniors,” Arnold said. “These guys were extremely huge for the program, I am so proud of them. When we came in (in 2010) the team had just gone 10-20, and we were told it is our job to turn it around. Now we are 20-10, the program is strong, and these three guys did a lot of the heavy lifting for us.”
Standhardinger, a transfer from Nebraska, became only the fourth player in UH history to score more than 1,000 points in a two-season career, after Tom Henderson, Reggie Cross and Anthony Carter.
Spearman is a two-year starter who was named to the Diamond Head Classic All-Tournament Team this past December and has been considered the heart and soul of the team.
Rozitis has been an All-Conference Academic selection the past two years and was named the team’s top defensive player last season. He already earned his bachelor’s degree and is working toward his master’s.
Standhardinger is scheduled to graduate in July with a business degree and Spearman will also be there in his cap and gown to receive his degree in sociology.
“They set great examples for our younger guys,” Arnold said.
(Game photos courtesy Brandon Flores / www.brandonfloresphotography.com)
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
Saturdays Results
Hawai’i 81, Cal State Fullerton 77
Long Beach State 74, UC Riverside 71
UC Irvine 74, UC Davis 46
UC Santa Barbara 71, Cal Poly 55
Big West Conference Tournament
First Round
Thursday, March 13
UC Santa Barbara vs. Cal Poly, 9 a.m. (Hawai;i time)
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton, 11:30 a.m. (Hawai’i time)
UC Irvine vs. UC Riverside, 3:00 p.m. (Hawai’i time)
Hawai’i vs. Cal State Northridge 5:30 p.m. (Hawai’i time)
Great way to send out a great group of seniors. Us alumni, former UH athletes and fans that you for giving us the most exciting team in a decade. With their style of play, probably the most exciting team in multiple decades.
20 wins is always going to be viewed as a good year (don’t believe the haters and complainers) and it’s been a long time since the program has been in this good of condition.
Now it’s on to Anaheim and the biggest week of the year. Time to put together a run for the ages. As long as Christian and Sham continue their recent good form, UH has the ability to make a deep run.
Congrats and a big mahalo seniors!
Observations:
I noticed Gib’s game has been a little off the past couple of games. The biggest thing I see, and I could be wrong, is that Gib doesn’t seem to trust his bench. It’s fairly apparent with the heavy minutes the starters have had and how little point production from the reserves. Basically it’s a 7 man rotation (Rozitis and Smith off the bench). In clean up duty vs UCSB, the combo of Thomas and Valdes prove to be a high energy pair defensively. Yes they may be a little green offensively, but they are athletic and long for their positions.
Of the starters, the only guy that can really lock down defensively is Spearman. Gib must bring in Valdes and Thomas for a shot of defensive energy when the starters are having issues defensively.
The one thing Gib needs to work on this offseason is his late game substitution management. He pretty much left the starting 5 in the final minutes when CSF had to foul. It’s fine to have the starting 5 when UH is inbounding the ball, but once UH is at the FT line, Gib needs to sub out Standhardinger & Nevels and put in Valdes, Rozitis and/or Thomas for defense. Then, with timeouts remaining, use them to put the starters back in. With the lead late, timeouts are used to get the right personnel in and reminding the team of the situation.
(Continued from previous topic post.)
GREAT WIN: number 20 and counting!..:D
MAN TO MAN DEFNESE< switch to zone. UH get rested, be prepared to DEFEND and shoot well for 3 days!!
ONE GAME< ONE WIN AT A TIME; Get sleep , rest, poke bowl, see a movie, go to beach, relax, than get back to work on lite practice on Monday!
It is going to be tough. however, this is what all of you were working so hard from last summer, throught fall beach workouts, and till BWC tourney for. Just a shot to win and advance, …Give 100%, and play man defense with help rotation, against those, quick perimeter teams. UH plays some nasty man to man defense when they want to. Have to mix and match. Teams, break UH's press pretty easily now. have to mix it up, base man to man if can. And Keith Spearman, Nevels, Fotu, Standhardinger, referees, looks like they are going to call games well, so , make sure to hit your FT's
Relax, rehab, rest, hydrate, nutrition, take a walk, …then get to work to get the Prize! in Anaheim.
Was that the Schmidt Ohana with Davis with lei for photo shots? Great looking family, and thanks for your support. I really believe, Gib has program going upward. Season still not over, give us your on hand report from Anaheim! Hope the boys can get some wins, maybe 3!
Such great personalities, everyone not perfect, like family of brothers, however, with Brandon, Davis, and Christian, leading, team stays together. Really like this team, best in Gib’s four years. and season hopefully will continue for 4 more games!
Go Rainbow Warriors!
😀
FUHA: agree with you , and observed by fans at SSC, by media, and fans viewing on video, Team is tired, the starting 5 . Gib really trusts the top 7 guys. Now, he has to in their lite practices, work in Valdes, Thomas, Smith, Rozitis,Enos, as another 5 man rotation for Defense and energy., no choice, otherwise the starters, though they want to will burn out. and could finish one and done.
On radio show, in his comments, he mentioned on being questioned by BC, that he would have to look at the next 5 guys off the bench. If they can contribute something. I think he has to, and the guys, coming in, whether play for 5 min or 15 min, have to score, rebound, defend to affect winning.
You are right about the end of game subbing, have shooters in when inbounding ball that last frantic minutes, then defenders when shooter at free throw line,..in fact FUHA, if you notice too, the close games that UH has won, that is exactly what he, did, ..I think , my opinion, even the close out on the 3’s, the opposition, UCSB and Fullerton, were jacking up some unreal shots, that even if 2 guys were in their faces they still hit them!
We all know incredible DEFENSE and timely shooting, and using bench, is the way to go in Tournament, play, single elimination, one loss and season over. So hope the Bows, can win 3! One game at a time. However as I mentioned, the Team, especially the starters need a mini break, relax and rehab before getting back to Practice for Northridge, going to be tough game, hope the Bows win!
Go Bows!!
😀
That darn schedule by Big West, 3 trips to Cali, sure not to Colorado, however, guys in school and change in time zone, in 3 weeks, the guys were exhausted, the senior nite, you could tell when Christian is grabbing his shorts, hunched over, and breathing hard. This team is one of the best conditioned teams in years. However, as FUHA and many mention, the bench guys, Smith, Enos, Thomas, Jovanovich, Valdes, Rozitis, be ready, Gib will have to use them to win the BWC tournament!
Go Rainbow Warriors!
😀
And get ready for great, hopefully run at Anaheim, the Tonganator Ohana in New Zealand!
😀
20th win for the Seniors! What a way to spend the last nite. It was great to see so many white shirts in the stands staying after the game to see the Seniors! It was a night that no one wanted to see end. Happy for Davis, Christian and Brandon to feel the love from Hawaii. So many kids (and fans) so happy to see the guys up close and get their autograph.
Here is the end of the night from my perspective:
Our family rushed down to the court after the buzzer officially ended the game with the 20th Win! Fans are everywhere! It was hard to maneuver to get to through the crowds of people. We make it down onto the court just as they announce Davis as the first senior to be recognized. Billy V yells out, “Who’s hear for Davis?” We raise our hands, “We are!” As we fumble with our bags to get the leis out, we see Davis fly above making his senior dunk! The crowd goes wild!
It was an honor to be on court to support Davis. To be there on behalf of his family that couldn’t fly in. We were his honorary family filling the shoes of his mom, Zane, his uncle, Artis and all of his family back home in Latvia. Davis also had others there that supported him, I recognized them from other facebook posts and pictures. Davis called for a group hug and told Benjay to join in with us as we moved from side to side in a big huddle like the team does before every game. Very happy moment.
I enjoyed being on the court, introducing myself to who I thought was Christian’s mom. I introduced myself as one of the sponsors of WI, and she immediately knew who I was. She brought me over to Christian’s mom, who was the identical twin of the woman I was talking to (Christian’s aunt.) I got to shake hands with Christian’s family who I had met earlier at the Irvine game. It was great to see the love and support of family.
Brandon’s mom was simply precious. She followed in the wake of Brandon signing autographs and shook hands and talked with the fans. She was having a ball making new friends, smiling with that signature Spearman smile! His dad, the quieter one of the two, took it all in. A proud dad! I told him that Brandon plays really well when they are around. He said “You are the third one that told me that!”
It was after 10:30pm, when we realized that it was time to go. The fans were getting their last autographs, the families patiently waiting for the 3 seniors to be done were seated off to the side. Everyone soaked in the last moments of the last home game in SSC. The seniors took it all in again. Looked around the arena watching the departing fans, the bench filled with their families, the media box was empty, the hoops were down, the court was covered to prep for volleyball…..the night was officially over. Good night Seniors, thanks for the memories in the SSC. Thanks for the 20th win! Now, go win some more for us in CA!
Wes and Dayton, excellent video, excellent coverage as always. Mahalo to the seniors for a terrific season, and it’s not over yet! But regardless of what happens in Anaheim you’ve turned around the program and that’s a great legacy.
Congratulations gib and the warriors for
GETTING 20 WINS.THATS REALLY IMPRESSIVE
NOW ITS TIME TO WIN THE BIG WEST TOURNEY
AND GET A NCAA INVITE.LETS GO WARRIORS.
GO 3-0 IN BIG WEST TOURNEY.BEAT THE
MATADORS,THEN MOVE ON TO ROUND 2.
EVERYBODY HAS TO BE ON THEIR GAME.
SCORE,REBOUND,PLAY GREAT DEFENCE,
DONT TURNOVER THE BALL AND MAKE
THEIR FREE THROWS.LETS GO WARRIOR.
WIN THE BWC TOURNEY TITLE.
Well, who would you want to shoot free throws, Keith Shamburger or Jace Tavita? With a few luck UH could be 23-7. One point losses to Boise State at home and at UC Northridge and a late 3 pt shot at Long Beach did us in. Plus losing home games against Irvine, Santa Barbara and Long Beach were bad. It was a could have been season.
To win in the tournament UH will have to score in the 80s. That means shooting a good percentage and increase the tempo.
Derek-to be 20-10 to end regular season, as you say, better than 10-20. I thought UH , with their pretty good preseason start, and solid uptempo D and offense, could go 11-5, finish regular season at 22-8, however, UH exposed, with not consistent outside shooting, really Nevels is it, the major 3 point gunner, like how Zane Johnson, was, if Nevels, and actually Shamburger, Spearman, hitting 7-9 threes in a game, UH will hit that 80 pt mark.
Northridge, Riverside, Poly, LBSU, Fullerton, all those, smallish teams, with those Cali quick penetrating and shooting guards and wings. UH has to be able to defend. Then of course, be able to score from inside to out. As hoopsa, stated, the 5 starters are gassed, first time I have seen in last few minutes, ALL 5 starters bent over with exhaustion,..Need some help from the bench.
If UH team can go Back To The Future, play like how they were in December, November, UH can hang with and beat all the other teams in the BWC tourney, if they cannot defend or shoot the 3’s, could be ONE and Done. I hope not. this team, they really battled. a couple of close wins, could have been losses, this year, and UH looking at a 14-16 season, however, they won some good games. i.e. Irvine on the road. Hope the Rainbows, can first of all get Northridge. Hey in Anaheim Honda Center, which is a nice place to play tournament, first class venue. UH has to play the best ball of their career. They need to recharge, get physically and emotionally well again, and battle. Should be good first round match. Hope the Bows get the Win. They have to Defend, and shoot well, that is the name of the game, to win.
Dayton glad that you moderate and see if our comments are consistent. Not trashing program or athletes.
Till this day, here Gib has career number 72 victory, that works out to , so far, average of 18 wins per year. With No losing seasons. An upgrade in athletic talent, and some good road wins. Comeptitive team that will only get better over next few years.
Then, some media writers, question, coach, written things, 20 wins, league weakness, etc. We die hard fans, we know these things already. With the Doldrums of last 4-5 years of Wallace and non winning time of Nash, maybe UH MBB on the negative end of MBB interest for about a 7 year period, here comes Gib, a new coach, still learning ropes, and learning to grow into the X and O and maturity of NCAA DI ball, he does a good job bringing in great character kids. Rozitis, Standhardinger and Spearman. As well as the other 13 RS’s and active on the roster.
We of WI nation, we glow with the team in the moment, the 20 wins, and potentially, Why not? Another 9 games to win to NCAA championships is a good thing. Whether UH can win Northridge game, team has to play very well, Don’t give up guys, and Coach Gib, great job so far! Who knows, win a NCAA National title in year 4? Why NOT. We appreciate all that you , and your staff and team have done. to bring interest and enjoyment to thousands of old and new fans of Rainbow Warrior Basketball, a real upswing again. Cannot wait, for you guys to try to get to championship game of the BWC tourney, and of course next year, hard to replace the 3 seniors, however, you have some firepower coming in, and returning!
Go Bows!
Uhfanzonly1.
Northridge Stats as of March 8 2014:
No. Name Yr Pos gp gs min/g fg/g pct 3pt/g pct ft/g pct ppg
01 Josh Greene Sr G 32 31 35.6 4.4-10.9 40.2 2.2-5.2 42.4 4.7-5.1 92.0 15.6
02 Landon Drew So G 32 26 24.1 1.8-4.4 40.0 0.7-1.9 38.3 1.0-1.3 75.6 5.2
03 Stephan Hicks Jr G 32 32 34.0 5.8-11.1 52.2 0.3-0.9 34.5 5.0-6.2 81.2 16.9
05 J.j. Thomas Jr F 25 6 10.2 0.9-2.3 37.9 0.1-0.2 50.0 0.8-1.1 71.4 2.7
10 Trevone Williams So F 31 – 10.3 1.2-2.4 48.0 0.2-0.5 33.3 0.4-0.5 76.5 2.9
11 Ben Vozzola Jr G 30 – 9.9 1.1-3.0 36.7 0.6-1.6 36.2 0.3-0.3 100.0 3.0
12 Robert Cid Jr G 3 – 1.7 0.0-0.7 0.0 0.0-0.0 – 0.7-0.7 100.0 0.7
14 Aaron Parks Fr G 32 1 18.9 1.7-5.2 32.1 0.2-0.9 28.6 3.1-4.4 69.7 6.7
15 Dominique Youmans Sr C 22 – 4.5 0.1-0.3 28.6 0.0-0.0 – 0.0-0.1 50.0 0.2
21 Stephen Maxwell Jr F 32 32 34.2 6.3-11.2 56.3 0.0-0.0 – 5.4-7.2 75.1 17.9
23 Kevin Rutledge Fr F 1 – 1.0 0.0-1.0 0.0 0.0-0.0 – 0.0-0.0 – 0.0
35 Tre Hale-Edmerson So C 32 32 28.2 2.6-5.7 45.6 0.1-0.6 15.0 1.3-1.8 70.7 6.6
Totals 32 32 205.5 25.4-55.8 45.6 4.3-11.6 37.6 21.8-27.7 78.6 76.9
Opponent 32 32 205.5 26.4-58.2 45.4 7.8-21.9 35.3 17.2-24.2 71.0 77.8
Ball control statistics
No. Name Yr Pos gp gs mpg off/g def/g reb/g pf/g dq/g ast/g to/g a/to stl/g blk/g
01 Josh Greene Sr G 32 31 35.6 0.3 2.5 2.8 2.4 0.0 3.3 1.8 1.8 1.1 0.2
02 Landon Drew So G 32 26 24.1 0.2 1.3 1.6 2.7 0.1 3.5 1.8 1.9 0.8 0.2
03 Stephan Hicks Jr G 32 32 34.0 2.0 4.7 6.7 2.5 0.1 1.0 1.6 0.6 1.4 0.2
05 J.j. Thomas Jr F 25 6 10.2 0.8 1.4 2.2 2.3 0.1 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.1
10 Trevone Williams So F 31 – 10.3 0.3 1.0 1.3 1.0 0.0 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.0
11 Ben Vozzola Jr G 30 – 9.9 0.1 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.0
12 Robert Cid Jr G 3 – 1.7 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 – 0.0 0.0
14 Aaron Parks Fr G 32 1 18.9 0.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 1.4 1.3 1.1 0.8 0.0
15 Dominique Youmans Sr C 22 – 4.5 0.2 0.3 0.5 1.1 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.2
21 Stephen Maxwell Jr F 32 32 34.2 3.8 5.2 9.0 2.5 0.0 0.6 2.4 0.2 0.8 0.1
23 Kevin Rutledge Fr F 1 – 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 – 0.0 0.0
35 Tre Hale-Edmerson So C 32 32 28.2 1.7 4.8 6.5 3.4 0.2 2.1 1.8 1.2 1.4 1.8
Totals 32 32 205.5 10.9 24.4 35.3 20.6 – 13.7 12.9 1.1 7.3 2.8
Opponent 32 32 205.5 11.1 22.0 33.1 20.8 – 14.7 12.6 1.2 6.2 3.3
Top 3 scorers for Northridge Matadors, overall stats.
Stephen Maxwell 17.9 ppg.
Stephan Hicks 16.9 ppg
Josh Greene 15.6 ppg
3 guys account for about 51 points of team 76.9 ppg average.
Defensively. Matadors give up 77.8 ppg.
Yes, that is the mark. UH has to hit in the Eighties, unless, slow down game, to win against the matadors. at this stage, if UH scores in the sixties, and wins by one, we will take it. If they score 90 pts and win by 15 we take it. Any win is good, and move on!
I read in the paper that Fotu may not return next year as he’s been offered another pro contract in NZ. I sure as hell hope Fotu kindly refuses the offer and sees out the next two years at UH. Any thoughts, insight?
Hawaii couldn’t have won this game without norm chows help…..he sang the national anthem and Hawaii ponoi
Fotu leaving would be a humongous blow for the program. I won’t make any judgments about what Fotu should do.
But if the program is going to make the leap past slugging it out at home with rank 300 programs, UH must be able to fill a roster with quality players. I’ve pointed out already that other teams in the Big West have just as good players as UH. UH was able to hang with a Missouri team thanks to the starting 5, but will not beat them once it gets to the reserves.
The next couple years are huge: Fotu and Negus, if they can make the NBA, then Gib can put that out to recruits. See how he turned some talented players into NBA-caliber. The real good players have dreams of NBA, and will go to schools with coaches that can help get them to the NBA. That is the importance of Fotu and Negus to the program. They can build Gib’s resume.
Still though, like I said UH must build up its reserves too. Not sure if Gib knows how to use role players correctly. He has a penchant for disenchanting players, look at how many guys have transferred out.
Great win and momentum builder for the BWC tourney. All the seniors were great but I will particularly miss CS’s grit and work ethic and the competitive spirit in @Fearthespear32. CSUN is a bad matchup for UH. I don’t have a good feeling about this game, but I hope I’m wrong.
Cal Poly would have been a worse matchup, remember they beat UH five teams in a row.
CSUN isn’t a good defensive team. Just like UH isn’t a good defensive team. So it comes down to who can score more. Just wish UH could be counted on for a defensive stop or two.
Last 3 road games for CSUN are funny: lose 96-88 at Idaho, lose 82-81 at Fullerton, lose 106-105 (2OT) at Riverside. They have no interest in defense. It’s a good matchup for UH.
Congratulations, ALL Big West First-Teamers
Senior Christian Standhardinger AND Isaac Fotu!
I think that was a possiblity, if Isaac saw an opportunity , the right one, to move to next level overseas pro ball. As for NBA, it would be wise to stay one more year. The NBA, roster bench reserves, guys that don’t even see the court, are really skilled. Isaac would have to up game in every area, handling ball, decision making, rebounding, strength, quickness, hops, shooting out to 3 line, FT shooting, running the floor and finishing. NBA . would have to be like Paul Milsap, DeJuan Blair, hybrid SF/PF. Shorter, however those guys are really effective.
As for overseas, perhaps, he can do what he wants. One on one, against someone his size, virtually unpstoppable. Wish the best for Isaac Fotu, whatever he decides, He has had a great career this far at UH, and we thank his family for sharing Isaac with Hawaii!
Shout out to TWO UH MBB athletes making BWC first team, that is a tribute to Isaac and Christian, plus the program!
For Isaac and Christian, and the whole UH team, they have a ONE OHANA goal, try to win the BWC tournament. Win that , go and win some games in NCAA tournament, would really put a punctuation mark on a very good season!
Plus, above statements, just my opinion, not based on any factual movement decision.
And Horse Champ, it is hard for any DI coach, who would be in Gib’s position. whether, Riley, Rocha, Little, Nash or Arnold , to recruit, top 300 in world caliber athletes consistently, however, Gib is trying. Also, the High Character, good young student athlete who fits Hawaii, is a challenge, So far in 4 years, and Gib having 72 wins and counting, with no losing seasons thus far,is a good start to building the best NCAA DI school in all of Polynesia!
If I were Fotu, I would stay at UH. Sure, he can choose to get $300,000+ for a three year contract in a few months OR stay in college on a full scholarship, get a bachelors, improve his game, and take his chances in the NBA draft. I think his goal is to play in the NBA not NZ. If he were to go to NZ, chances of him being scouted by the NBA are pretty slim. I’m confident he’ll stay.
JUST OPINION…
Horssssse — I BELIEVE (And i Think The Coaches Have TOO Much Class and Caring For The Players Currently IN-THEIR-Charge TO SAY It Out Loud — It’s NOT for US or Their NEXT Prospective Team’s Coaches, Media or “FANS”) MOST Of The Players Who Left were NOT Offered Renewed Scholarships And That Those Scholarships Were RE-Invested On ‘Even-Better’ New Players…