Warrior Insider

Hawai’i co-captains Justin Webster and Casdon Jardine, along with first-year Warriors Junior Madut and James Jean-Marie, each received Honorable Mention on the All-Big West Conference Team announced Monday morning.

The quantity and placement of the UH players represented on the team reflects an up-and-down season where no one Warrior really consistently stood out, and yet each of the four contributed enough to be officially recognized.

Webster, a sophomore guard, averaged 12.7 points per game, shooting 49.4 percent from the field including 39.1 percent from 3-point range. He also averaged 3.5 rebounds per game.

“I certainly think those guys could have earned second-team recognition, and I think their futures are bright,” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said. “You talk about Justin Webster … He’s very efficient — (almost) 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3, at the position he plays, guard? Not many people are doing that. So it’s nice to see, this is just another step for him and I expect there are better things from him in the future. The other three guys are first-year guys in our program, so to be able to get recognized especially when you’ve only been able to play (mostly) a conference season, that’s a credit to them.”

Jardine, a graduate transfer forward from Utah Valley, averaged 11.1 ppg, shooting 48.1 percent from the field including 43.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 5.4 rebounds per game. Madut, a redshirt junior swingman, averaged 10.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg. And Jean-Marie, a senior transfer forward from San Diego, averaged 12.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg, shooting 55.4 percent from the field including 46.2 percent from 3-point range. He also made 76.7 percent of his free throws.

“Casdon, like Webster, (is) a co-captain and shooting close to 50 percent from the field, over 40 percent from 3 — really impressive,” Ganot said. “Junior and James have had their moments. I think when we’ve been at our best, is when Junior has had his best games, he’s had three or four 20-point games. We ask him to guard the other team’s best players and get steals, and do a little bit of everything. And really for him, unlike Casdon and James, he hasn’t even been able to play basketball for a couple years because he had to sit out (last year). I just think it’s a step for him and one of many steps in the future.

“James, it’s unbelievable to see 22 minutes per game at his position and yet another guy (who shoots) 50-plus (percent), 40-plus from 3, and he was 9 of 10 from the line the other night, he shoots (over) 75 percent from the free throw line (overall). So it is a tough matchup because he can go inside and out. We thought other guys could have been potentially recognized — Biwali (Bayles) was one of the better freshmen, and Mate (Colina) was one of the better hustle players. But happy for the (Honorable Mention) guys and look forward to continuing to work with them.”

Ganot said Colina had a particularly strong case for “Best Hustle Player,” which went to Dominick Pickett of UC Riverside.

“I don’t like saying it, and I don’t say this very often, but I would have liked for (Colina) to have received the Hustle Player Award,” Ganot said. “We’ve actually earned that one (before) with Zigmars (Raimo) and Sheriff (Drammeh), and sometimes you take it for granted that (Colina) is 6-foot-11, but he’s 6-11 and runs the floor like he does, sacrifices his body like he does, takes charges — he’s got to lead the country in taking charges for a 6-11 guy. The offseason work he put in and his confidence growing … He’s really hustling and running, but he’s improved his overall game, he’s shooting 50 percent from the field, he’s been able to knock down open 3’s, he’s made better decisions with the ball. Really proud of him, and he’s a big part of what we’re doing.”

UC Santa Barbara, which won the regular-season championship, took the top honors – JaQuori McLaughlin was named Player of the Year, and Joe Pasternack received Coach of the Year. UCSB was also the only team to land two players on the All-Big West Conference first team – McLaughlin and Amadou Sow.

Big West Conference Championship Tournament
Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas
March 9
No. 8 CSUN vs. No. 9 Long Beach State, 3:00 p.m. PT
No. 7 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 10 Cal Poly, 6:00 p.m. PT

March 11
CSUN/Long Beach State winner vs. No. 1 UC Santa Barbara, 11:00 a.m. PT
No. 4 UC Davis vs. No. 5 CSU Bakersfield, 2:00 p.m. PT
Cal State Fullerton/Cal Poly winner vs. No. 2 UC Irvine, 5:00 p.m. PT
No. 3 UC Riverside vs. No. 6 Hawai’i, 8:00 p.m. PT

March 12
First Semifinal, 6:00 p.m. PT
Second Semifinal, 9:00 p.m. PT

March 13
Championship, 8:30 p.m. PT