Warrior Insider

Banquet or not, the awards will not be cancelled for the 2019-20 University of Hawai’i basketball team.

The program announced its annual award winners on Monday. The awards are normally announced at a team banquet, but that was cancelled this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is the official announcement from www.hawaiiathletics.com …

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball program announced its annual team award winners Monday. The top individual honor went to senior guard Eddie Stansberry, who was named the Art Woolaway Most Outstanding Player.
 
Stansberry led the Rainbow Warriors in numerous categories, including scoring (15.9 ppg) and was among the national leaders in three-pointers (3.0) and minutes per game (37.0). He earned first-team all-Big West honors and is the first UH player ever to be named Big West Player of the Week three times in one season. After just two seasons played, he leaves UH ranked fourth all-time in three-pointers made (167).
 
Fellow senior Zigmars Raimo earned a pair of awards. The 6-9 forward and team co-captain was given the Riley Wallace Leadership Award. He also garnered the Bob Nash Hustle Award. The native of Madona, Lativa was among the Big West leaders in rebounds, assists and steals before being named the league’s Co-Best Hustle Player at the conclusion of the regular-season. Raimo appeared in 114 career games at UH, tied for sixth in school history.
 
Drew Buggs, who served as co-captain with Raimo, was also presented the Riley Wallace Leadership Award, as well as the Ah Chew Goo Most Inspirational Award. The junior co-captain endured the passing of his mother prior to the season and put together a memorable year in her honor. The Long Beach, Calif., native led the Big West in assists (5.4 apg) for the second straight season and became the school’s all-time leader in the category (437) en route to all-Big West honorable mention.
 
Samuta Avea was named Most Improved Player for elevating his play during his junior season. After serving as a spot reserve in his first two years, Avea became a full-time starter for the Rainbow Warriors this season. He finished second on the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and three-pointers made (39) and provided one of the most memorable moments of the season when he buried four straight three-pointers—including the game-winner—in UH’s comeback win at UC Davis.
 
Redshirt freshman forward Zoar Nedd received the Community Service Award and sophomore center Mate Colina earned the team’s Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
2019-20 Team Award Winners
Art Woolaway Most Outstanding Player Award: Eddie Stansberry
Riley Wallace Leadership Award: Drew Buggs and Zigmars Raimo
Bob Nash Hustle Award: Zigmars Raimo
Ah Chew Goo Most Inspirational Award: Drew Buggs
Community Service Award: Zoar Nedd
Scholar-Athlete Award: Mate Colina
Most Improved Award: Samuta Avea