LAIE, Hawaii — Over the years, the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team has played official NCAA games in a number of venues in its island state besides its on-campus home, the Stan Sheriff Center, and before that the Blaisdell Arena.
In the recent past, UH played at historic Bloch Arena at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam on Oahu. The Neighbor Islands have been occasional hosts: the ‘Bows have competed at Kauai High School; “The Barn” on Molokai; War Memorial Gym in Wailuku and the Lahaina Civic Center on Maui; and Kona and Hilo on Hawaii Island.
Absent in the program’s record books is any mention of play on the North Shore of Oahu.
That will change in the upcoming 2022-23 season, as the Rainbow Warriors will participate in the inaugural North Shore Classic at Brigham Young University-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center during Thanksgiving week, Nov. 25 and 26.
“We are Hawaii’s team, so the opportunity to take our team … to other parts of the island is awesome,” UH coach Eran Ganot said in a press conference at the CAC on Monday.
“It’s so important to know who you represent, always,” he added. “As we all know, other parts of the island, other islands, offer different perspectives. We want to immerse ourselves in the culture. This is a great community here. A knowledgeable fan base, a rabid fan base.”
UH will be joined by Sacramento State of the Big Sky Conference, Texas State of the Sun Belt Conference and Southern Utah of the Western Athletic Conference. UH will face Sac State on Nov. 25 and one of the other two on the 26th in the multi-team event organized by California-based Total Sports Consulting. The participation of UH and Sac State, now coached by ex-UC Riverside coach David Patrick, had previously leaked online.
Ganot said he'd wanted to surprise sixth-year forward Samuta Avea, a Hauula native and Kahuku High graduate, and that didn't work. But it was still a bonus to bring him closer to his roots.
At the behest of the overall BYU system, BYUH shut down its athletics program at the end of the 2016-17 athletic year. The 4,500-seat Cannon Center has been largely dormant since, with the exception of devotional concerts, student dances and intramural sports.
But the current BYUH administration has been supportive of bringing back college sports on campus in the form of singular tournament events; the CAC was recently refurbished with a new hardwood floor and lights.
Before BYUH’s athletics shutdown, back when the ‘Bows and Seasiders would prepare for their respective seasons, they often engaged in preseason, closed-door scrimmages. Many of those were up at BYUH.
At one point, when BYUH was a Division II powerhouse under Ken Wagner, there was even a healthy debate as to which team was the best on the island.
For Brandyn Akana, a former assistant coach at both schools who now oversees sports and student activities at the BYUH campus, it’s a union that has been many years in the making.
“It’s been a while (in the works),” Akana told Spectrum News. “Ever since I was coaching here (at BYUH), I know that Riley Wallace and the old staff wanted to come out here and play. It never really happened. It’s good to see this actually happening and moving forward. I think it’s beneficial for the community and also for our campus. We’ll have the students involved, do a lot of experiential learning for them. It’ll be great for the community, for the state, and also for our campus.”
For Avea, the two games in Laie will mean a little more. Avea grew up down the road in Hauula and visited the CAC a number of times growing up, including for Kahuku High graduation ceremonies.
Avea missed the entirety of the last two seasons – first for opting out during COVID in 2020-21, then with a preseason back injury in the fall of 2021.
“It’s huge,” he said of the opportunity to play in the CAC. “Especially being away from the game as long as I was … for us to come out here and play in front of the kids, play in front of the people who don’t get out to town side as much as they’d like, just to show them basketball can pay for your education, take you places that you might want to go. Big ups to Coach for making this happen and everybody involved.”
SUU transitioned this month from the Big Sky to the WAC and the Thunderbirds will be a full WAC member when they arrive in Laie. SUU won 23 games in the 2021-22 season, Texas State 21 and Sacramento State 11.
It is yet to be announced if the teams will pair up winner-winner and loser-loser after the first day of competition, or if the matchups on the second day will be preset.
Ganot said information on ticket information for UH fans and possible TV coverage of the event would be forthcoming.