Warrior Insider

There will be only one active senior on the 2016-17 University of Hawai’i basketball team, and it’s not Mike Thomas.

Noah Allen, a 6-foot-7 transfer from UCLA, is the only senior who will see action for the Warriors this season (Thomas will redshirt due to a wrist injury). As such, he will be expected to play a significant role, even though he is one of 10 newcomers to the program this season.

“It’s exciting,” he said of his role with the team so far this preseason. “I’m not going to make any excuses. That’s one of the things Coach (Eran Ganot) says, ‘next man up,’ so whatever our role needs to be, that’s what we’re going to do and we’re going to support each other.”

Allen was a reserve guard at UCLA for the past three seasons, and saw action in a NCAA Sweet 16 game as a sophomore in 2015. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in political science in 2016, after just three years on the UCLA campus. With that, he was able to transfer to any other college without having to sit out a year.

Allen said Hawai’i coaches Eran Ganot and Adam Jacobsen both recruited him when they were at previous schools, so he was familiar with both.

“I had built a rapport with them over the years, and once I found out I needed a new school to go to, my AAU coach reached out to them, and that’s kind of how it all started,” Allen said.

Although he appeared in 71 games at UCLA, Allen has never been in the starting lineup for a NCAA game. That is expected to change soon, as he has already emerged as one of the team’s more reliable scoring options.

He said, though, that his importance to this young team might not be measured in the boxscore.

“More of a leadership role, being that I have the most experience, per se,” he said. “That’s what the coaches really want me to focus on – being more vocal and being somebody that can guide the other guys.”

HAWAI’I VS. BYU-HAWAI’I (EXHIBITION)
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300)
Television: None
Radio: None
Livestats: HawaiiAthletics.com
Tickets: All seats general admission ($10 – adults; $8 – senior citizens; $5 – youth).