It was difficult to miss the new guy.

The Hawaii basketball team had a notable, sizable spectator at Monday’s practice. Mate Colina, a 6-foot-11, 235-pound center out of Australia’s Centre of Excellence, arrived over the weekend to begin enrollment at the Manoa campus.

Colina stood near drills in Gym 2 and watched his teammates, then joined them for a film session in preparation for Wednesday’s Big West home opener against Cal Poly. Once he gets settled in the coming days, he will redshirt and be a practice player for the remainder of the 2017-18 season. He will be eligible to play in the fall as a freshman.

“It’s awesome. They’ve been very welcoming,” Colina said of his teammates. “It’s the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. Thankful for it and can’t wait to get started.

“(The goal) is to further my game and help the team get stronger as well. Sort of bring something they don’t have, a bit more size, a bit of work.”

Colina was signed last fall as part of a huge class, along with fellow 6-11 Australian Owen Hulland and Dawson Carper, a 7-footer out of Rapart (Colo.) High. Colina finished up school at Lake Ginninderra Secondary School in Canberra in early December, allowing him to arrive at the semester break.

He is instantly the tallest player on the UH roster. Sophomore center Ido Flaisher is listed at 6-10.

“(He’s) someone for us to go against,” coach Eran Ganot said. “Obviously we’re not that big. But maybe we go against teams that are bigger, and so now you have another guy who … can simulate some of that size. And then it’s getting him a good head start, getting him ready for next year.”

Colina played with Australia’s U17 team in 2016. The Melbourne native also competed for his home state of Victoria in the 2017 U20 Australian National Championships, averaging 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds. Most recently, he played a tournament with “Lake G” in December, helping him stay ready to play.

He said the coaching staff told him to “find my own ways to develop, get better. That will help me along the way. It’s more up to me what I can make of these six months.”