Can-do attitude makes Canda a good get for Warriors
Two years ago, Bryce Canda had exactly one offer to play college basketball, and it was from a school in Hawai’i … the University of Hawai’i at Hilo.
Canda’s official signing this week with the University of Hawai’i at Manoa – the only NCAA Division I program in the state – shows just how much the 6-foot-4, 195-pound point guard has progressed.
“It’s ironic that the only school that wanted him out of high school was the University of Hawai’i-Hilo, and now here he is at the University of Hawai’i,” said Kumbeno Memory, who is Canda’s trainer and AAU coach for the I-5 Elite basketball club in Portland, Oregon. “He went from one offer from a Division II school to a whole bunch of offers from D-1 schools. That’s a testament to his work ethic, but he’s also a work in progress. He’s worked his way to become a good player, but if he improves as much in these next two years, the University of Hawai’i is going to have a very special player.”
Canda graduated from Grant High School in Portland in 2013 (the same high school as former UH basketball player Dominic Waters, as well as June Jones and Artie Wilson).
Instead of signing with UH-Hilo, he opted to play on the junior college level at Central Wyoming, in part due to a connection with one of the coaches there. He was a two-year starter at CWC, and blossomed into a star this past season as a sophomore. He was a first team All-Region IX selection after averaging 19.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
“I feel like I can make plays that others can’t,” Canda said. “I feel like I can read defenses well, and make plays not just for myself, but for others as well. For my size, I feel like I can rebound well, especially for a guard. I feel like I can pass really well and just do what ever it takes to bring more wins to the team.”
Memory added: “The way point guards are today, you need to have the ability to score as well as run the team and make the right decisions. He can do all of that. He scored almost 20 points a game, but he’s not a volume shooter. He does things efficiently. At the same time, he’s getting his teammates involved with assists, and he can also get you rebounds.”
Memory also noted that Canda made 68 3-pointers during his sophomore season at CWC, and shot better than 41 percent from beyond the arc.
“He wasn’t the shooter in high school that he is now, because he worked on it,” Memory said. “If a defense gives him that shot now, he’ll knock it down. At the same time, he can get by his defender and get to the basket.”
Canda made an official visit to Hawai’i last weekend, and was ready to commit by the end of his first day on O’ahu. “I didn’t know any of the guys before, but they all welcomed me and I felt like I fit in right away,” he said.
With respect to Riverton, Wyoming, the location of UH also played a role in his decision. “They took me on an island tour, and the views and the weather were wonderful,” Canda said.
Canda was also being recruited by more than a dozen schools, and he canceled visits to Arkansas-Little Rock, Creighton and Nevada after committing to Hawai’i.
New UH head coach Eran Ganot started the recruiting process when he was still the associate coach at Saint Mary’s. After accepting the UH job last month, Ganot informed Canda of the decision.
“He started contacting me for Saint Mary’s, but when the whole Hawai’i thing started happening, I wanted to wait and see,” Canda said. “Once he told me he wanted me at Hawai’i, we worked things out from there.”
It also helps that Ganot and Memory have formed a friendship over the years, thanks to previous recruits. Memory is the head coach of I-5 Elite, which is considered one of the top AAU programs in the Pacific Northwest. Ganot recruited several I-5 Elite players to Saint Mary’s in recent years.
“I consider Eran like family to me now,” Memory said. “When he comes out to recruit any of our kids, I know he’s going to take care of them and continue their development, on and off the court. I know Bryce is in good hands out there at Hawai’i, and I hope to make this an annual thing.”
Canda said he needs to complete two more classes at Central Wyoming to achieve his associate’s degree, and then he plans to attend summer school at UH in July. He already has a plan for his academic path at UH.
“I really like clothes and detailing, and shoes,” he said. “So I’m thinking about going into the field of fashion design. I talked to one of the academic advisors on my visit and she filled me in, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Canda said he will also stay in shape by working out with Memory in Portland before he makes the trip to Hawai’i in July.
“Our training sessions go four to five hours a day,” Canda said. “It’s not just shooting, it’s all kinds of different drills to get better all-around. I want to be in the best shape of my life by the time I get back to Hawai’i.”
Below is a full game video featuring Central Wyoming at Northwest College. Canda is wearing jersey number 0 in black. He scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers, in this game. Warning, the game does not start until about 15 minutes into this video:
That is something : ” he canceled visits to Arkansas-Little Rock, Creighton and Nevada after committing to Hawai’i.” He didn’t know any of the guys in Hawaii.
He can get together with Niko for fashion design. Hope he can complete his associate degree.
Coach Ganot’s brother is a fashion designer in new york, luxury mens clothing, could give niko and bryce some advice.
Assist after assist after assist, for you to be coach Ganot’s #1 recruit for 2015-16.
But, am really think that your future teammates have swung your desire to cancel the rest of your planned visits. Big Mahalos to everone for Hawaii to have the pleasure that you joined the Ohana!
You are currently a big-hit for the local media. Fans admiring your successes and improvements.
Please keep it up, let your performance speak with the TEAM.
We visualizing that finally a team will give the beautiful Rainbow Wahine drawing power competition!
At least there are some explanations to the mystery now. This kid still has to finish up two classes before he can be eligible but I also like that he showed a lot of faith in Eran Ganot by waiting for him to get the Hawaii job before commit to any other schools. This kid sounds like a hard worker and thats exactly what we need.
He does not get up very high with his jump shot in the video but he makes it look nice and easy. We haven’t had a PG who can knock down open 3 balls consistent in a long time.
Good stuff Josh.
Diversity in recruit gets..
fashion design, something warrior mbb team into heavily
Now, Eran create diverse staff
Zane and hopefully Jamie Smith good start
ChuckCheese..makes sense, like past uh mbb coaches , as recently as AV,
waited for grade and ncaa clearance..
One thing stands out in my mind, and by now , know goings on of mbb past few years
Gib same, Benjy same and Eran exactly same..high character, hard effort, love Hawaii, right fit
And not that easy get guys into Hawaii
NWC, MT, AV, Q, Janks, Stef, Niko, Dyrbe, Brocke, Zach, Rod and Fleming great core for Eran to work with
What a Gift job by Matlin
Gib and Benjy did heavy lifting, recruit athletes
now Eran can fine tune
post season ban or not, ganot can have winning team for next few years
Big visit this week?
Actually Janks and Stef should gain muscle weight
Janks was 242 at Mizzou
Stef easily should be 255 of muscle and have better feet, lateral movement
those 2 can be good
I think depending on ncaa sanctions, maybe Eran offers only 2 guys this year
And can Eran manage, about 7 or 8 very strong willed guys? On current team? What if Bryce wants to be the Man too? Not easy, first HC job and history recent over last 8 years.. a real challenge to please everyone….
Even if Eran gets a 2 star 7 foot big, from Australia, who can block shots. and muscle mamamadou.
that will be the question.. Can Eran manage, some very head strong guys.. great effort.. good guys, however, very strong minded.. their mindsets?
Dayton thanks for updates.. you have to have long video interview with Tough questions from WI fan nation. to see if Eran really has what it takes..
Seems , if UH can still play for NCAA post season next year.. he would have to Win the BWC championship, and or the regular season title.. anything less. will be well.. less. a huge disappointment.
Still MBB uncertainty.. from a Fan that has seen the Rocha early 1964 days till the Gib/ Benjy era, to the sudden arrival of UH/ BOR / Chancellor guy Eran..
Still uncertain.. I just have to wait and see if some guys make the grade this semester, hope they do, so they can graduate.. weird, strange.. feeling.
for young HC, and the way he was handed job.. leaves one feeling not confident.. yet.
Eran, has to PR some.. open up that O’Neil, Frank Arnold, Riley, Gib, Benjy magic, the enthusiasm..then a lot of fans buy in.. cannot ganot.. go low key all the time..
jmo.
I think you might guess that Dayton is waiting around to see someone say Canda can-do. And by extension, Ganot can-do, too. It’s Can-do Gan-oo ! (Must be the French.) That’s a big reason why Ganot stuck with Canda and made him his first recruit. Go Bows !
Is it only 1.5 months enough for Mr. da Cando to complete two classes?
Or, going to be Airon II all over!
Central Wyoming 1st summer session begins May 18 and ends June 26 (UH 1st session begins May 26, ends July 2) . UH 2nd summer session begins July 6, ends August 14 .
Stay low key. Uhf just not used to having coach who does not run everything through WI. Maybe he read uhf1 and other comments and figured “I better stay waaaay far away from any site with this kind of follower”. Good for him. Players, academics, community. That is his job. Not letting uhf know what he is doing every day. As uhf says so often after predicting Eran’s failure, jmo.
Those two classes are probably the reason why he was still on the market this late in the game. Lots of schools in a wait and see approach. Glad we got him locked in and I hope he takes care of his school work to gain admission.
UH and Gib’s separate responses to the NCAA will be filed by tomorrow. I wonder if the responses will be made public right away ?
“UH is expected to ask that at least one of the charges, allegations of extra benefits for recruits, be reduced to Level III. . . .
During the past five months UH said it has considered a wide array of possible sanctions including a ban on postseason play, a loss of scholarships, reduced practice time and cutbacks on the role of an operations director.
But UH is believed to have backed away from at least the possibility of a postseason ban.
Head coach Eran Ganot, who took over at UH on April 9, has sought to retain the full role of an operations director.” (staradvertiser today)
“The position figures prominently in the NCAA allegations. The NCAA, citing testimony of several staff members, alleges that two past operations directors were impermissibly used in capacities as on-the-floor coaches as well as scouts and recruiters.”
Those are good questions UHF1. Because as we saw with Gib, 25% of players leaving every year, Gib saying that is normal and he gladly accepted that. Not easy for coach to deal with headstrong young men.
But I guess good thing for Ganot, he is younger, not oldster. So definitely he is looking out for the future, so much more ahead of him. Ready to build a foundation. By keeping the team together, not pushing out 25% of the team every year, high turnover rate that cannot build and keeps UH in 5th place in the Big West year after year. Smooth talker Gib was. Good at poaching unhappy players from other schools, he wasn’t really a recruiter (anyone seen the two freshman recruits last year?), and no good at keeping them happy, playing only 7 guys a game. Starters leaving the program, not building a foundation.
Excited to see Valdes and Mike Thomas (looks like MJ) develop even more next year, continue the progress they made this year without Gib.
All time high excitement, to see the foundation finally solidified. Gotta agree with that. Recruits turning down 20 other schools to come here, they see the positive future too, and Ganot is a good speaker, really great interview in the newspaper yesterday. Oops! you hate the newspaper…
So with all these questions, uhf1, did you callin the other night? Probably not. Better to stay anonymous on some site where u can be as weird as u want. Lol. And I thought u were going over to Chaminade, Hilo, and HPU. By the way, haven’t seen any news about those big schools clamoring to sign Benjy. Thought u said he would be scooped up as HC somewhere in a heartbeat? U can always follow him on another site.
So my question is, (and hopefully there is a way of keeping the answer short so I can understand it), … What is the intent of the rules?
Islandman, when you cite references to – “The position of “operations director” was impermissibly used in capacities as on-the-floor coaches as well as scouts and recruiters.” – and there are other similar charges, (I read through the original letter),
What does that mean? What is the intent of the rule?
Does it mean we brought in a ‘ringer’ to coach up the players?
The penalty and the infraction don’t seem to match up in terms of severity. How could this be so severe? Why the rule?
… yes, short answers please
islandman5,
It is something Canda chose to attend UH. I mean, the NCAA sanctions hasn’t come down yet and with it it may mean no xtra exposure if UH wins the BW season title or tourney.
Guess if your good your good, people will see you because of the media technology we have today.
Pocho, hope it turns out good.
akuhead2; that’s for Amanda to explain.
But Allegations 1,2,3 & 4 were Level II, while 5, 6 & 7 were Level I’s. UH could have gotten less severe sanctions, but due to Allegations 5,6 & 7 (e.g. unethical conduct,providing false info, etc. ) ,they could get “worse” ones.
Example: Allegation 1;
“It is alleged that throughout the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years, the then men’s basketball directors of operations participated in on-court coaching and other instructional activities with men’s basketball student-athletes at the instruction of Gib Arnold (Arnold), then head men’s basketball coach. Additionally, at times during the 2010-11 academic year, the then men’s basketball director of operations made recruiting telephone calls to men’s basketball prospective student-athletes at Arnold’s instruction. As a result, the institution exceeded the permissible number of countable men’s basketball coaches during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years. …”
‘The NCAA enforcement staff believes that the hearing panel of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions could determine that Allegation No. 1 is a significant breach of conduct (Level II) because the circumstances surrounding this allegation (1) were intended to, and did, provide more than a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage; (2) do not rise to a Level I violation but are more serious than a Level III violation; and (3) were not inadvertent, isolated or limited in nature. [NCAA Bylaws 19.1.2 and 19.1.2-(a) (2014-15)] ‘0000000.0.
I go huh?
Thanks for the information and legwork, online work islandman.. you got it down real good.
Old story already, from Frazier, Donovan, Dobelle, Greenwood, Lassner, Apple, Jay, Matlin, etc. and BOR.. and notice New Lawyer, General Counsel hired for UH, the head legal honcho..
UH has been screwy, with contracts, etc. and buyouts.. i.e. Gib going to arbitration, he will walk away with something, UH and he will come to middle ground, and settle. And Gib going to counter, whatever, charges, especially the big ones.. Hey this is more interesting and affects UH MBB program as much as Eran being new coach.
Some fans, myself included. gets real tiring.. Question, Horsse, islandman, pono, and other fans.. If, Donovan, was here, and Amanda on board yet? As well as Jay and Amanda.. Why did they Not Find the alleged infractions, or ongoing infractions, the very first ones, by DOBA.. etc. from 2011, and 2010 with car loaned etc.. Really it is the top, above Gib , the AD, BOR, the compliance, Chancellor, president. that Should know that Gib was doing wrong, alleged…It starts AT THE TOP, and trickles down….crazy… I wonder how UH Hilo is going to do this year in MBB.. they have that great PF.. ?
We shall see what happens.. looks like .. well I hope settled, at least how Gib and UH counter, and counter, counter, and .. hey families, team and recruits.. it is like a roller coaster with UH/counsel and AD. ..NCAA allegations here now.. wish they would have settled one year ago..Auwe !
No word why UH let it’s Head Legal Counsel loose? Do we have to wonder? Really