HONOLULU — In a typical preseason, the Hawaii men’s basketball team conducts a closed-door scrimmage against one of three local Division II programs, away from prying eyes, to help it tune up for upcoming public exhibitions and official games.

Such competitions are held covertly, as by NCAA rule they cannot be promoted by the team nor shared with the media. And usually, they do not warrant a mention.

The Rainbow Warriors broke with precedent last weekend when head coach Eran Ganot took his entire team on a trip to the Bay Area for a scrimmage — still secret — against another Division I program.

What You Need To Know

  • The Hawaii men's basketball team plays a preseason exhibition against Hawaii Hilo at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m. Thursday as a tune-up for the 2022-23 season

  • Instead of a closed-door scrimmage against a local Division II team last weekend, head coach Eran Ganot decided to take his full team on a flight to the Bay Area for a team bonding trip 

  • UH got in a closed-door scrimmage against another Division I program, held a regular practice and attended a Sacramento Kings game

  • Ganot said he considered it a worthwhile investment and would look to schedule such preseason trips in future years

Ganot confirmed the trip in response to a question from Spectrum News during his media availability Tuesday prior to team practice. UH is preparing for a Thursday night exhibition against Hawaii Hilo at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The eighth-year coach of the state's lone Division I program said the trip had been in the works for a while to help it neutralize an advantage enjoyed by D-I mainland teams in close proximity to each other.

“That can potentially, and should potentially help us moving forward,” Ganot said. “The bottom line is, we traveled well together. We have a unique (opportunity) that we may not have had at this time of the year in the past.”

While Ganot did not identify his team’s opponent, he is a former Saint Mary’s assistant coach and retains close ties with Gaels head coach Randy Bennett. UH first-year assistant coach Rob Jones is a former Saint Mary’s standout big man. Saint Mary’s is located in Moraga, California, in the Bay Area.

The team also caught a Sacramento Kings game and held a regular practice over the weekend.

Players posted social media updates from the road.

Ganot said if possible, he will take his team on such a trip every year, and that his players will be better prepared for its next road trip. That is its lone expedition off the island during nonconference play, against UNLV at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada, on Dec. 7.

Spectrum News asked him Tuesday if the program had the wherewithal to do the trip this year because of an especially successful tip-off fundraiser on Oct. 11. Ganot told Spectrum News after that event that it raised more than $150,000, breaking a record for the meet-and-greet event.

“Well, we’ve worked hard,” he said in response. “As you can tell, we spend a lot of time grinding to make our team better, but also grinding to make the program better. A lot of teams nationally have been able to play one and sometimes two of these kind of games. We haven’t done that at all (against a D-I team) for over a decade.

“I think it was a great investment. It’s worth the investment,” added Ganot, who did not disclose the cost of the trip. “We’ll continue to try to provide that experience for our guys. Like I said, it checked a lot of boxes in one trip. It was a quick trip. But we’ll be better for it down the road.”

Ganot was not yet ready to reveal his starting lineup for Thursday's exhibition.

UH guard Juan Munoz, a seventh-year college player, said the team is anxious to show its work.

“Finally. We’ve been practicing so hard, we’ve been so competitive in practice,” said Munoz, the graduate transfer from Longwood who sat out last year with an injury. “It’s just finally time to reveal the pride that we’ve been producing in practice.”

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.