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Stansberry plans to bring his work ethic and winning ways to Hawai’i

Eddie Stansberry saw the efforts of his hard work pay off with a championship at City College of San Francisco last season. He would like to see the same plan unfold at the University of Hawai’i.

Stansberry, a 6-foot-3 guard, signed a National Letter of Intent on Monday to play for the Rainbow Warriors starting in the 2018-19 season. He will be a junior with two seasons of eligibility.

“All the guys are great and everybody made me feel real comfortable,” Stansberry said of his decision to sign with Hawai’i. “The coaches recognized me early, and I feel like I built a strong relationship with them over time. That made the decision easy for me, really.”

Stansberry averaged 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a sophomore this past season for a CCSF team that finished 33-1, and won the California Community College Athletic Association championship. Most impressive, he made 104 3-pointers while shooting 42.8 percent from beyond the arc.

“I know the difference between a good shot and a bad shot,” he said. “There are some tough shots you can take in rhythm. I don’t really think about my shot when I’m taking it. It doesn’t matter where I’m standing on the court, as long as I’m in rhythm and it’s a good shot.”

It also helps that Stansberry worked tirelessly on his shooting last summer. As a freshman at CCSF in 2016-17, he made 36 3-pointers and shot 30 percent from long range.

“It didn’t matter if it was morning or night, it was just a matter of putting in two to three hours every day,” he said. “It wasn’t just working on my jump shot, but my ball handling as well. If nobody was there, I would put chairs in places where I would normally come off screens. It was just a lot of repetitions, working every day.”

Despite the long-range prowess he displayed last season, Stansberry said he does not consider himself a pure shooting guard. He grew up playing the point guard position, and also takes pride in his defense.

“People see the stats and numbers and the 3-pointers jump out, but defense is a big aspect of my game,” he said. “I worked on my footwork as well as my shooting over the summer. I take a lot of pride in being able to play both ends.”

He is already looking forward to bringing that same work ethic to Manoa this summer. He said he will enroll in summer school courses to get a head start on credits and training.

“You can never be too comfortable or content,” he said. “You can always work on something to get better, and that’s where I’m at now.”

At CCSF, eight different players averaged between 8.3 and 15.9 points per game, and the team out-scored opponents by an average of 26 points per game. Stansberry said he likes that Hawai’i employs a similar share-the-ball philosophy.

“It’s such a great feeling to be part of a winning program,” he said. “When I went on my trip out there to Hawai’i, I felt like all the guys and the coaches had the same mindset of wanting to play for each other and make each other better. I can see myself translating what I did (at CCSF) to Hawai’i to help the team win.”

Stansberry brought his mother, Olga, on his recruiting trip to Manoa last month. On the plane ride back to San Francisco, the decision was already made … and it wasn’t all about basketball.

“I really liked what they had to offer on the academic side; I was looking at the possibility of going into nursing, but it’s practically impossible with the time conflicts, so I’m looking at maybe something with public health,” he said. “It’s just something that always caught my attention, helping people.”

He said it also helped that he got to experience some of the well-known “local” cuisine while on his recruiting visit.

“Honestly, I loved the food over there,” he said. “Duke’s, right on the beach, Yardhouse, Rainbow Drive-In … we don’t have that kind of food over here (in San Francisco) and I want to go back to all those places.”

(Top photo of Eddie Stansberry and his mother, Olga // courtesy Stansberry family)

11 Comments

  1. Good statements from this kid. If he can be the consistent shooter this team needs and the bigs play like they supposed to, UH could be a dangerous team next year.

  2. no way will we be a dangerous team no matter how good a 3 point threat berry is…yes a very good pickup if he cam bomb 3’s but we need a complete player like noah allen if we want to be dangerous….berry and purchase cant create their own shot off the dribble so we need someone to do it for them…none of our guards can finish above the rim either

  3. In some videos, i see Eddie creating his own shots.

  4. A solid, if not splashy, addition to the team. Seems like a high-character, hard-working guy who fits what Ganot is looking for. What’s not to like about a guy who likes Rainbow Drive-Inn?

  5. Stansberry is a solid player, but UH needs a guy that can flat out score the ball when we need a bucket in crunch time. If we can land a grad transfer or JC guy that can do that this team will be really good.

  6. Offer made to Jarod Lucas for 2019, per verbal commits site. His father, Jeff, was on the UH roster in 1987.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=aX8EsCcFOqg

  7. Kid has a nice shooting stroke. Would be a good get.

  8. Has quite a few offers and is rated a 4 star player, think .

  9. Any word if UH is giving the last scholie to Brocke or is still actively recruiting someone?

  10. Hope to see that kid performance

  11. PONO: McInnis reporting that indeed the last scholarship is going to Stepteau. He’s certainly earned it with his play the past two seasons. Well-deserved.

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