HONOLULU — The pieces have been dumped on the table and are ready for assembly.
The Hawaii men’s basketball team, like the rest of the NCAA Division I, was allotted 30 full practices to see the big picture heading into the 2022-23 season. The first of them was Friday.
UH, coming off its best finish in the Big West in several years last March, has 10 returnees and five newcomers with which to work.
“We’ve done a lot of work this past summer, this fall,” senior forward Kamaka Hepa said. “But it’s time to start putting pieces together, and it’s really going to be dependent on how hard we want to work… in these next six weeks leading up to the season.”
The opener is Nov. 11 against Mississippi Valley State in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic.
Season-ending injuries to wing Samuta Avea and point guard Juan Munoz threw the Rainbow Warriors for a loop this time a year ago.
Given what UH did without them — a 17-11 season, third place in the BWC and a first-round tournament victory at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev. — expectations are now a little higher.
That’s despite the losses of wing Junior Madut, forward Jerome Desrosiers and center Mate Colina. Desrosiers, who had an appeal for an extra year of eligibility denied by the NCAA, decided to stick around as a graduate assistant and could be seen in Gym 2 rebounding for bigs like freshman Mor Seck. Seck turned heads with his 7-foot-1 height and solid frame.
Desrosiers, last season’s top rebounder, is a key loss as he supplied toughness and on-court leadership. He’s hoping to supply some of the latter from the sidelines with the staff while pursuing a pro career in 3-on-3 basketball where he can.
Still, the return of two Division I veterans who’ve been on the shelf, plus All-Big West second-team guard Noel Coleman from an orbital bone injury late in the year, lent a different feel compared to typical Day 1s for eighth-year coach Eran Ganot.
“Continuity is important,” Ganot said. “Ten back in the day was normal. Now 10 is a significant, potential advantage.”
Many of those 10, however, have not played with each other. Avea hasn’t played since 2019-20 (when he was second on the team with a 10.8 scoring average) after opting out in 2020-21 during the pandemic and undergoing back surgery in 2021-22.
Avea watched from the side Friday with a foot injury as teammates competed in 1-on-1 and 5-on-5 halfcourt drills. The sixth-year senior said it was minor, and he’s expected back in action soon.
“It’s just reps, really. I can’t really think about lost time,” the Kahuku High alumnus said. “But with the support of the guys, it’s good to get in the flow of things.
“I’m really tired of rehab. I’m over rehab, I’m past healing, I’m just ready to play.”
Munoz, who came in from Longwood last season, has yet to play an official game at UH, but appears ready to go and showcased his shooting and quickness to the hoop on Day 1. He will contend with JoVon McClanahan, in his third year at UH, and sophomore Justus Jackson for primary ball-handling responsibilities.
“That’s a great challenge,” Ganot said of working Avea and Munoz in. “I’d rather have that challenge than what we’ve had at times, with guys out.”
It was a breakout year for Coleman (team-high 14.8 points, 44.1% 3-point shooting) until he took an inadvertent elbow from a teammate in a blowout loss at UC Irvine, needed surgery and spent the next few months recovering. But Friday, he seemed back to his old self.
The absence of those three contributed to the reality that the Texas transfer Hepa, a versatile 6-10 forward, grappled with far greater role than at any other time in his college career.
Hepa was still unselfish, nearly to a fault, something he continues to work ongoing into his final season of college ball. He was fourth on the team in scoring at 9.4 per game and, with a pure outside shot he was sometimes hesitant to unleash, hit nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts.
“(Last year) was big time, and that’s where I think I had to really grow and kind of be uncomfortable, or be comfortable being uncomfortable, with the fact that I have to be able to do that,” Hepa said. “Last year was a big step for me in adjusting to it and this year I think I’ll be able to really capitalize on it.”
During breaks in Friday’s action, Hepa could be seen offering pointers to the young Seck, a native of Senegal who came to UH from Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, Calif.
Seck showed an eagerness to dunk every putback he could.
“We have some new guys who are still getting comfortable,” Ganot said. “You’ll see their true talents shine when they’re in great shape, which they are, and they’re comfortable.”
The other newcomers are Ryan Rapp, a 6-5 transfer from Washington State; Harry Rouhliadeff, a 6-9 forward from Brisbane, Australia; Matija Svetozarevic, a 6-8 transfer from Portland; and Kody Williams, a 6-foot walk-on from Minnetonka, Minn.
UH's new assistant, Rob Jones, was present as well. Jones replaced Mike Thomas, who left in the offseason for personal reasons following his first year as a Division I coach.
A few more photos from Day 1:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.