HONOLULU — The people demand Mor.
While point guard JoVon McClanahan was justifiably heaped with attention and praise in leading the Hawaii basketball team to its first Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title, there was another development within the Rainbow Warriors in the three tournament games over the holidays.
Heading into 20 games of Big West Conference play, freshman center Mor Seck has emerged as the team’s unquestioned fan favorite in supplying key bench minutes in the DHC semifinals against Washington State and the thrilling final against SMU.
He grabbed six rebounds in six minutes in the first half against the Cougars and threw down two dunks among his season-high nine points while blocking two shots against the athletic Mustangs on national TV. They were easily the biggest moments of his young hoops career.
By the end of the tournament, after he’d twice helped his team rally from significant early deficits, the 7-foot-1, 230-pound native of Senegal got cheers for standing, sitting, talking or breathing.
It was a momentous turn for a player that only started playing basketball seriously, and speaking English, when he came to the U.S. at age 14. He began to show his personality as the action progressed, one-arm flexing after a dunk one moment and waving on the Stan Sheriff Center crowd the next.
Off the court, Seck, whose full name is Elhadji Mor Seck, goes out of his way to greet people, usually with a hug to those he recognizes.
“Right when I got here, people fell in love with me. They love everything about me,” said Seck, who had played sparingly before the DHC. “That’s why I feel at home.”
But, Seck said, he has chosen not to share most of what he’s experienced in Hawaii with his family back in Senegal. He hails from the small village of Ngayene Daour, and per his UH bio, his parents live in the capital of Dakar, on the west coast of Africa.
“They’re doing good, but they don’t really know what’s going on here,” Seck said Tuesday.
They don’t really know how I feel. … This is a different world. Where I’m from and here, it’s way different. I don’t really talk about what’s going on here. … I have to make sure they don’t get what type of way that I feel.”
This is his third primary stop since attending school in Florida and California; he finished at the Prolific Prep Academy in the Bay Area. It was a controlled environment compared to the freedom afforded a college student. It’s been a challenging transition.
“Sometimes it’s kind of hard when you go from country to country, when you don’t have your family around you,” Seck said. “It’s kind of really difficult. But at the end of the day, I’m 19 now, I can take care of myself, to know what I want and what I can do for myself, and what I can do for the team.”
With his length and energy, Seck has given the Rainbow Warriors a presence around the rim that they haven’t had in recent years, coach Eran Ganot said while acknowledging the freshman has a long way to go with the nuances of the game.
From the start of preseason practices, teammates have constantly been in his ear between plays to offer pointers.
“It’s a great challenge. You just gotta bring him along slowly,” Ganot said. “He’s a first-year guy at an important position, and he’s around some veteran guys. So, you’re balancing continuing to move with your vets and continuing to get your young guys comfortable. I think the theme has been just to chip away.”
The biggest areas of Seck’s improvement have been knowledge and comfort in operating the Rainbow Warriors’ sets, the coach said, and his discipline on defense — knowing to staying down while in a 1-on-1 battle in the post, and recognizing when to rotate.
Those could come into play again as soon as Thursday night for the Big West home opener against UC Davis (7-5), the top offensive team in the conference at 78.1 points per game. Pace and ball movement are staples of coach Jim Les’ team identity this season.
The Aggies feature two elite scorers in the backcourt in Elijah Pepper (19.7 ppg) and Ty Johnson (16.3); they are two of the top four scorers in the conference.
Pepper, an All-BWC second-teamer a season ago, hiked his scoring average from 15.1. Johnson, a transfer from Loyola-Chicago, is having a breakout sophomore season in which he has scored in double figures in all but one game.
UH (9-3), a winner of four straight, was picked to finish second in the league while UCD was picked sixth.
UH has leaned on its defense to compensate for inconsistent scoring. The ‘Bows have held opponents to 60.2 points per game, ranking 19th in the country.
The key has been their denial of quality 3-point opportunities; opponents are shooting just 27.4% from long range and 39.7% overall. Foes are making just 4.3 3s per game against UH to the ‘Bows’ 6.9.
Guard Noel Coleman leads UH with 14.7 points per game while forward Kamaka Hepa adds 11.7. Wing Samuta Avea scored in double figures in three of the last four games to raise his average to 9.8.
Depth has been an issue. Ganot said that guard Amoro Lado will miss “potentially a couple months” after having surgery for shin splints. However, Ryan Rapp is nearing a return from an injury and could soon aid in the team’s rotation on the wing.
UH follows against Cal Poly (6-6) at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.