UH struggles to recruit top-shelf players

The good news was that the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team entered the letter of intent signing period with four scholarships.

Less encouraging is that 15 days into it the Rainbow Warriors still have all four in their pocket.

Progress this isn’t.

On March 3, when the NCAA announced it was restoring two scholarships, rendering the ’Bows whole again with 13, UH was right where it wanted to be. Toss in the anticipated departures of Matthew Owies and Larry Lewis Jr., heading into the April 12-May 17 Division I signing period, UH had enough scholarships to address its lengthy shopping list and 2016-17 shortcomings.

Ideally the ’Bows would have bagged all three — or at least two — of the players who took initial recruiting visits, allowing them to fill the most pressing needs, a point guard, shooting guard and a big man, in one swoop.

Instead, after whiffing on all three offers — point guard Edon Maxhuni, shooting guard Rylan Bergersen and center Colin Russell — the ’Bows are still looking. And looking.

That’s disturbing on a couple of levels. It is one thing to lose out to Brigham Young University for Bergersen’s services, but quite another to get beaten out by Big West brethren UC Davis (Russell) and Long Beach State (Maxhuni).

With as much as UH would seem to have going for it in terms of facilities, fan base, exposure, etc. compared to its Big West peers, back-to-back setbacks to in-conference opponents are particularly painful.

The goal of being a year-in and year-out championship contender in the Big West gets tougher when the schools you are trying to stay ahead of win the head-to-head recruiting battles, something we haven’t seen much of until now.

The potential problem is that the deeper we get into the recruiting calendar the more it becomes a mater of diminishing returns for a so-called Division I mid-major. As UH’s “A” list prospects get picked off, the talent thins out considerably in dropping down to “B” and “C” list candidates.

To be sure the ’Bows can get takers for their four scholarships, but the looming question is will they be the type who can still significantly advance the program from its 14-16 finish?

Maybe there is still a nugget to be unearthed or a four-year transfer to be snapped up, but the odds go down the later it gets in the recruiting process as projects begin to outnumber prospects.

UH needs depth, notably at guard where the only scholarship returnees are Leland Green, Sheriff Drammeh and Drew Buggs, who did not play last season.

Unless UH addresses this soon, it could be good news for Brocke Stepteau, the ’Bows’ 5-foot, 9-inch walk-on point guard from Dallas. After seeing scant court time as a freshman in 2015-16, the puka at point guard gave him the opportunity to play in 2016-17 and he took full advantage, not only seeing action in all 30 games but starting 22 of them.

An inability to bring in a top shelf point guard now further opens up the possibility of a scholarship after sharing the team’s most improved player award. Stepteau led UH in assists at 3.0 per game and was second in free-throw accuracy at 80.7 percent per game.

If UH is able to do it retroactively, it might even aid their cause when it comes to the Academic Progress Rate, the NCAA metric for academic advancement and retention where the ’Bows have been walking a fine line.

Meanwhile, the current NCAA-mandated “quiet” period ends Friday — and UH has been “quiet” long enough.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.