University of Hawai’i basketball fans will have a whole year to memorize the name Negus Webster-Chan.
The 6-foot-7 guard is a transfer from the University of Missouri, so he will have to sit out the 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer rules. UH head coach Gib Arnold believes the future results will be worth the immediate wait.
“When you do see him, he’s going to become one of your all-time favorite players to wear a University of Hawai’i jersey,” is how Arnold introduced Webster-Chan at the Green & Black Scrimmage earlier this month.
First off, fans will have to learn how to pronounce his first name correctly (KNEE-gus … see video for proper pronunciation). His parents picked the name because Negus is a title reserved for kings in Ethiopia.
He is hoping to help lift the Warriors to basketball royalty in future years with his versatile style of play.
“I like the guys we have here, the pieces are good,” Webster-Chan said. “Coach Gib sounds like he knows what he’s doing. I’m just ready for the future.”
Read about Shaquille Stokes’ leaving.
For this year, he will have to be the leader of the scout team in practices. “I’m just going to try kill the first string guys and who ever else subs in,” he said. “We’re just going to try to kill them every practice – get them better.”
Upon first glance, most people will notice the tattoos that run along the length of both his arms. Webster-Chan said he has more than 20 tattoos, but his most meaningful one is his most recent – the letters FOE on his fight triceps. The letters stand for Family Over Everything, which he said is a family motto.
“Family is everything to me,” he said. “All my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my brothers have it.”
Webster-Chan actually has an eclectic mix of family and friends. He was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, and his family tree includes relatives from Jamaica and China.