Rainbow Warriors land another big from Down Under

Hawaii basketball is going big with its Australian recruiting.

The Rainbow Warriors have secured a commitment from Owen Hulland, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound power forward who competes at Australia’s Centre of Excellence, otherwise known as the Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Hulland is a prototypical “stretch 4” who is comfortable shooting from the perimeter. Defensively, he is a capable rebounder and shot blocker.

Hulland followed the large, still-fresh tracks of CoE teammate Mate Colina, a 6-10 center who committed to UH in July. Hulland is UH’s first committed player for the 2018-19 season; Colina is also expected to sign during the upcoming early period (Nov. 8 to 15) but will join at the 2017-18 semester break.

“Well, me and Mate are really good mates, I really enjoy playing with him and I think we could really do something special over there,” Hulland messaged the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday (today in Australia). “Him (committing) to Hawaii before I chose to commit didn’t affect my decision, I thought it was a great Progamme already, and I guess having Mate over there with me is just a bonus.”

Hulland took an official visit to UH early this month. He also visited Saint Mary’s, a mainstay for Aussie imports that UH also beat out for Colina.

UH has another Aussie stretch 4 in 6-9 Jack Purchase, who will be a senior next season. Hulland has grown over the past year to the cusp of 7 feet.

“(Hulland) is a really good prospect, a really good player,” said the CoE’s Adam Caporn, who’s coached Hulland there for about a year. “Fits the bill of the modern face-up 4. Really good size for the position, 7-foot, can really shoot. Good perimeter player, good talent. Really good kid. Learning a lot very rapidly. Eager to get better.”

The Adelaide native also played for South Australia in U-20 competition in his homeland.

According to Australiabasket.com, Hulland averaged 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game in 2017 for the CoE. He shot 60.6 percent on 2-pointers and 45.3 percent overall.

“He’s been a match-up problem for teams,” Caporn said. “He’s still a developing player in skill set. We haven’t seen the best of him. I think we will in the next six or so months here, and then even better in college and so on. … He’s what you look for in a lot of spread, pick-and-roll offense. He’s a 7-footer that can shoot the 3. He can play off the bounce a little bit. He can post up — it’s not his home base, but he can take advantage of a mismatch and provide matchup problems.”

UH is also recruiting 7-foot center Dawson Carper out of Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. He has not yet announced a decision among UH, Air Force, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Cleveland State.