Jankovic honored by Big West again
After throwing down several dunks for the University of Hawai’i basketball team last week, Stefan Jankovic was a slam dunk choice for the Big West Conference Player of the Week.
Jankovic, a 6-foot-11 junior center, averaged 29.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and shot an impressive 76 percent from the field, to help lead the Warriors to two thrilling comeback wins on the road last week.
He had a career-high 34 points on 12-of-13 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds in a 69-63 win at CSUN on Thursday. His .923 field goal percentage for that game was the best ever by a UH player in a conference game (dating back to 1980, when UH was in the Western Athletic Conference). He followed that two days later with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds in an epic 75-71 win at UC Irvine in a game for first place.
Jankovic also shot 4 for 6 from 3-point range (66.7 percent), 17 for 22 from the free-throw line (77.3 percent), and had three assists and two blocked shots in the two games.
The Warriors improved to 22-3 overall and 11-1 in the Big West, putting them two games ahead of the rest of the conference with four games remaining.
In what has fast become a historic season for the Warriors, this latest award adds to the list of accomplishments.
Hawai’i players have now accounted for five Big West Player of the Week awards – setting a new school record for Player of the Week awards in a season. This is Jankovic’s second award this season. Senior point guard Roderick Bobbitt also won it twice, and sophomore guard Isaac Fleming won it once.
Four previous UH teams had four Player of the Week awards: 1996-97 (WAC), 1997-98 (WAC), 2011-12 (WAC) and 2013-14 (Big West).
Here is the official release from the Big West Conference:
Two monstrous performances by junior Stefan Jankovic (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada/Missouri) earned Hawaii’s leading scorer and rebounder his second Big West Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honor, and the fifth by a Rainbow Warrior this season.
Jankovic averaged 29.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in road victories over CSUN (69-63) and UC Irvine (75-71), improving UH’s conference road record to 6-0.
He also shot a sizzling 76.0% (19-of-25) from the field, including 66.7% (4-of-6) behind the three-point line. He was clutch at the charity stripe, hitting 17 of his 22 attempts.
Jankovic was a one-man wrecking crew at CSUN as he scored nearly half of his team’s points, finishing with a career-high 34 points on 12-of-13 shooting. He scored 23 of those points in the second half, including eight straight during one stretch to give his team the lead back at 54-51.
The 6-11 forward helped UH to a series sweep of UCI on Saturday, giving the ‘Bows a two-game lead in the conference standings. His 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal were key to the win. Jankovic made 9-of-12 from the line and hit a pair of threes for the second straight game to pace the offense.
Others nominated: Josh Martin (Cal Poly); Khalil Ahmad (Cal State Fullerton); Aaron Parks (CSUN); Nick Faust (Long Beach State); Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine); Secean Johnson (UC Riverside); Gabe Vincent (UC Santa Barbara)
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JANKOVIC, HAWAI’I ALSO RECOGNIZED BY COLLEGE COURT REPORT
In addition to the Big West award, Stefan Jankovic was named the CCR Mid-Major Player of the Week by www.collegecourtreport.com.
CLICK HERE to read the article
The same website also ranks Hawai’i at No. 4 in the weekly CCR Mid-Major Top 20 Power Rankings for this week. The top three this week are, in order: Valparaiso, Little Rock and Saint Mary’s.
Among the “name” mid-majors ranked below Hawai’i this week are Wichita State at No. 5, Gonzaga at No. 7, and Dayton at No. 9.
CLICK HERE to see the current rankings
In other mid-major polls:
• Hawai’i climbed up two spots to No. 6 in the College Insider Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 by www.collegeinsider.com.
• Hawai’i checks in at No. 9 this week (up three spots from last week) in the Mid-Major Madness Power 15 by www.midmajormadness.com.
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WEEKLY TOP 25 WATCH
Hawai’i continued to receive points in this week’s Top 25 national polls, but remains a long ways from breaking into the actual Top 25.
The Warriors are in the “Others receiving votes” category for both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Interestingly, though, Hawai’i increased its point total in the AP Poll but decreased in the Coaches Poll.
The Warriors received 12 points in the AP Poll, after receiving five points last week. They received just three points in the Coaches Poll, after receiving seven last week.
In any case, Hawai’i needs a lot more points in both polls to get officially ranked for the first time since 2002.
Texas is No. 25 in the current AP Poll with 104 points, and there are nine teams ahead of Hawai’i in the “Others receiving votes.” In the Coaches Poll, Texas is also No. 25, with 66 points, and there are 11 teams ahead of Hawai’i in the “Others receiving votes.”
CLICK HERE to view this week’s Top 25 polls
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BRACKETOLOGY WATCH
The “bracketology” prognostications basically mean nothing right now, but it is fun to follow. Hawai’i is projected as a No. 13 seed on two major websites.
The “Bracketology with Joe Lunardi” on www.espn.com has the Warriors at No. 13, projected to face No. 4 Duke, at a regional site in Denver.
CBS Sports’ version of bracketology has No. 13 seed Hawai’i facing No. 4 West Virginia at a regional site in Oklahoma City.
Not a surprise, Jankovic was a slam dunk choice. He’s now the leader, in my opinion, for Conference Most Outstanding Player. Bobbitt to me, would be in there for Most Valuable Player. He’s the point guard, the leader, the maestro, leads the conference in assists, steals, and leads our defense, and he scores 13.2 points per game and shoots over 84% from the F/T line. If I had a vote, my choice would be Roderick Bobbitt for MVP.
All the players have improved and that’s a credit to them and the great teaching by the coaches. The preparation and attention to detail by the staff is unbelievable. These coaches all deserve a nice bonus and raise. As great as our BB is doing, the opposite can be said about our baseball team. 18-0. Are you kidding me!!!!! Matlin needs to do some soul searching, man!
Jankovic POY really now. His ability no hype
Definite shot at nba roster. Glad he transferred to UH!
Joy to watch team. Go for the gold champs!
Think Baseball college game like that. No pitching
Runaway scores. True . Need to get back to ncaa’s
Like Murakami days. Credit to Ganot and staff great
job working with team help them get better near the finish line!
Congratulations Janks! He truly took over the two games on the road and was even taking Mamadou to the rim.
I just wish the national voters would give UH some more respect. Did I see this correct that UH lost points from the coach’s poll? How does that happen after you get two big wins on the road! Is there a way to see how each of the coach’s voted?
Janks is Mr. Clutch. Those two huge performances willed UH to first in the league. Well deserved, but there are bigger things to come.
Janks awarded twice in one week?! This guy improves every single day, team work, hard work, it’s all paying off. Well deserved, keep it up and we head to the big dance!
At this point, rankings mean nothing. Joe Lunardi has the latest Bracketology has Hawaii up as a #13 seed in the West Regional. Their present is the #4 Duke Blue Devils and Coach K. But, that means nothing too, because games are needed to be played out and see what happens. Things will take care of itself.
As Coach Ganot says, we just focus on ourselves and our preparation for the next challenge, and that’s such good advice. Rewards come as a result of good team play and winning games. Period.
Winning the regular season crown is a great accomplishment but its all about the tourney for that coveted NCAA spot. 1 and 2 seeds both get buys into the semis so UCI is positioned just as well as us.
I believe only the women’s tournament has byes into the semi finals for the top two seeds.
Yes, no byes in the men’s big west tournament.
Not sure why the women’s tourney has double byes. That’s an overwhelming advantage for the top 2 teams.
Should Hawaii win the regular-season title it would secure a bid to the NIT — which, at the very least, is a heck of a lot more prestigious than the other “alphabet” tournaments that UH has played in in the past.
As the regular-season champ it would also earn the top seed in the BW tournament and likely ensure that it would not have to face Irvine or Long Beach until the championship game.
That, of course, is a long way down the road, but at least Hawaii can control its destiny. One game, one win at a time. Next up: Riverside (without its best player).
Thanks for correcting me. It’s odd that the women have a much different tourney structure than the men.
Congrats to Janks! He was on fire this week and was exactly what the team needed to pull off two tough road victories. He’ll also be the first to admit that it took a team effort and he was one of the keys to victory in each game. Also nice to see UH getting more votes but still just the same 3 voters. It’s also a shame that UH actually dropped in the Coaches poll (auwe!), which really makes no sense.
What also doesn’t make any sense is Monmouth being in the talks of getting an at-large bid. Yes, they have 2 victories over top 30 RPI teams (Notre Dame, USC) but they were in neutral environments. And both of those “top 30” teams have 8 losses each…RPI is a pretty crappy ranking system as well, as it doesn’t consider multiple important factors in matchups. They also got smoked in their own house by a #131 RPI team Iona and have THREE losses against 201+ ranked teams. UH doesn’t have any top-30 RPI wins but we’re still undefeated against all 100+ ranked teams. It’s just frustrating when teams like this are considered “on the bubble”, while no mention of UH for an at-large can be found anywhere, although the ESPN announcers have mentioned the distinct possibility.
In any case, I love this team and I’m loving every second of the ride. Looking forward to some convincing and entertaining home victories this week. Let’s GO BOWS!
I like Ganot coaching philosophy. Clear last game get
ready for next opponent. Still think about Cal Poly few
years back. Losing record last seeded in Big West
tourney. Mustangs win it all and win first game in ncaa
Tournament! Conference tourney 8th seed can win it all.
Warriors FOCUS..Shoot freethrows and get ready for
most physical basketball of year. MMA style.
next 7 games!!
HANA HOU JANKS!
One step at a time, but that goal is going to have to go through Da Beach.
Looking ahead, UH would have at least 6 starters back for next season. Drew Buggs, 2.7* PG recruit, just turned his Verbal into a Signed LOI last week. The pick of the litter would be another Aussie, William McDowell-White, 4* shooting guard who is being sought after by Texas A&M and ASU. Jack White is a 3* forward who is also an Aussie…and least we forget about redshirt Jack Purchase and PG of the Aussie National team, Matt Owies.
These three seniors will be truly missed, but let’s hope that they are the only ones taking the walk this Saturday.
GO BOWZ…finish strong.
Congrats Janks! A key player in this road trip.
Congrats to all the players for being true warriors!
Congrats Janks you’ve been playing lights out bball.
lights out is right bigdaddy! go janks!
I cannot remember who it was that somebody named our most improved player in a previous post, but I truly think that Janks, besides now being one of our best players, is also BY FAR the most improved player this year. He is far more aggressive and active under the boards, his moves in the paint compared to last year, are like night and day (and his hands seem stronger, he catches the ball much better), and he stays in games longer by being smarter defensively (not always, but much much better than last year). He doesn’t question the ref on every single play like he used to, thus his leadership skills have clearly improved, he has matured. I am only speculating, but I think that Janks, based on interview comments, has a pretty good and open attitude and may have been one of the first of the vets to really buy into the new coach and the new offense and I think that allowed his learning curve to shoot up as quickly as it did. This was the kind of player Isaac Fotu was as well. Janks and Fotu would have been a formidable top 25 pair.
Congratulations, Janks. You have worked hard and have earned your way to the top!
CP3ball provided interesting info on another board. The 1972 NCAA’s that the UH Fabulous Five participated in had only 25 teams in it. Then the number of teams gradually increased to 64, etc. through the years.
The 1972 champion was UCLA, with Bill Walton, beating Florida St., 81-76. That Florida St team was the same one that lost to UH two times earlier in the season, one time by forfeit because their coach argued with a local official, David Mahukona. Final score was 30-10, after 4 technical foul FT’s by John Penebacker.
Congratulations, Janks. Very well-deserved.
I believe Jankovic would say he couldn’t have done it without his teammates and coaches.
Heard BC this morning. He mentioned a lot of guys, like everybody in the rotation including Niko. But he didn’t mention Tummala at all. Oversight? Inexcusable. Sai is the one guy who is the most important addition to this team who provides steady shooting from the 3 and experience and maturity. He’s been very steady all season long, and so reliable. Curran should apologize, this coming from the play by play announcer.
Nice if we had Sai last year too. This would be
Second run at ncaa bid! Appreciate how much better
team got from 2 year ago through fall and now
redemtion fully healthy and 2 Big West titles to garner
for NIT and NCAA! Go warriors. And Janks is worth 10
wins this year at least!
How’s Hugh Hogland as a Div I prospect ?
Someone Nominated ‘Q’ (Believe Also Seconded)….
BUT You Could Make a Strong Case for Rod, even MIKE Thomas or Sai Tummala, as well
Like Coach Says: They’re ALL Improving….And Keep Improving…
Like An Obsession… REALLY HARD Workers…
CALL THE COACH
7 pm Tonight @ Pagoda Hotel LaSalle Room and ESPN AM 1420 (Oceanic 884)…,
“Golden State all-star guard Stephen Curry is the featured clinician at the Warriors Overnight Camp, July 2-5, at Brigham Young-Hawaii.
This four-day/three-night session is for boys and girls, ages 9-16, of all skill levels and abilities. Curry, the reigning NBA MVP, will be involved with the camp for three days, conducting lectures, giving demonstrations and holding photo and autograph sessions… ”
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/golden-states-curry-at-byu-hawaii-camp/
Kind of expensive though.
Derek, I listen to BC in the mornings on the way to work…I didn’t hear that yesterday but I would say it was a mental oversight/lapse on his part. I know he’s very high on this team and believes that top to bottom, they are much better than they are given credit for. My take on Sai, is that he’s been there for the occassional needed 3 during the season but has really come on as of late, stepping up when other players weren’t available due to injury and/or foul trouble. I was very stoked on Sai having a great game at Irvine the other night as his family came out in full force to watch him and support the team. I’ve also been impressed with the way he’s been opening up his game to other facets, not just catch-and-shoot 3’s.
I love this team and how they truly define the meaning of playing as a team. Despite all the injuries and foul trouble, guys are always willing to step up. You watch videos of them at practice and they’re all just enjoying each others company. It’s an amazing thing to see and great things can come of it (and already has).
Not only do I think this team will make the big dance, but I honestly believe they have a legit shot to make an NCAA tournament run. They know how to win, they’re very deep, they’re unselfish, they play solid defense, they have a great offense and the best Coaching staff a Hawaii team has seen in years.
Is it Thursday yet? Let’s GO BOWS!
Senior night should be sellout. Incredible young men
graduating in May. Some move on eligibility over. Love
attitude of Enos througjh coaching changes just kept
smiling and can be part of ncaa team before moving
on. Maybe Zach encourage Hogland to come to UH?
Heard he is VB player too!
Re: BC, the other day he said that Sai is his son’s favorite player.
The Big West Women’s tournament has 4 rounds compared to 3 for the Men.
The 1st round is seeds 5 vs 8 and 6 vs 7. 2nd round is seed no.3 vs winner of game 2 and no. 4 vs. winner of game 1.
Seeds 1 and 2 don’t play until the 3rd or semi-final round or have double-byes. Good for the No. 1 and No. 2 teams, IF your team is one of those.
Way to go Janks!!! This year’s staff, along with his own hard work, has really brought his game along!
Congo…Jankovic, you deserves
Best motivational basketball NBA playes quotes posters at hardwoodposters.com
Tickets for Big West Tournament available online at UH ticket website. Punch your ticket to Anaheim and support the team. !! Warriors to protect the house this week !