HONOLULU — The Hawaii men’s basketball team moved a step closer to completing its 2024-25 roster with the announced signing of guard Jacopo Van der Knaap of Italy on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-5 Van der Knaap will be a 21-year-old freshman for coach Eran Ganot this fall after competing as an amateur for pro clubs Tobarra CB (Spain) and in the BNXT League (Belgium, the Netherlands) the last two years. He averaged 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 25 appearances for Tobarra in 2023-24.
"I've wanted to play college basketball for the unique opportunity to combine high-level basketball together with a studying degree, and when Hawaii reached out to show me the program it immediately sounded very good and interesting," Van der Knaap told Spectrum News in a message.
Van der Knaap is the first player from Italy (Verona) in program history. He also has experience playing for the national team program of the Netherlands in the FIBA U20 European Championships.
Of being the program's first UH player from his two home countries, Van der Knaap said, "It feels good and makes me feel proud and responsible to put a good impression about the Dutch and Italian culture to Hawaii."
He said he received interest from other Division I schools without naming them, "but Hawaii caught my attention the most."
"Jacopo is a big guard who has a knack for scoring and can play multiple positions on the perimeter," Ganot said in a statement. "He's been an elite shooter with vast international experience and we love the poise and maturity he plays with. His development over the years has been impressive and we look forward to seeing that trend continue here. We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Jacopo to the program."
He is the second addition of a European player within a week for UH; it landed forward Gytis Nemeiksa, a Xavier transfer from Lithuania, last weekend.
UH is believed to have three scholarships remaining to assign for 2024-25.
Below is a highlight montage of Van der Knaap against Division I teams UC San Diego, BYU, Virginia Tech and American in the summer of 2023.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.