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Hawaii men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot downplayed a report Monday that mentioned him as a candidate for the vacant head job at the University of San Diego.
Besides the report at HoopDirt.com, a site specializing in college basketball coaching transactions, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser was told of interest between Ganot and USD through a separate source.
But the third-year UH coach, who has ties to the West Coast Conference through his time as an assistant at Saint Mary’s, affirmed his loyalty to the school that gave him his first full-time head coaching job.
“I love my job. I have a great job and I love Hawaii,” Ganot told the Star-Advertiser. “Just like in the (staff) meetings we’ve had today, that’s what we’ve been working on. The other stuff, I can’t comment on speculation.”
USD went 20-14 in the recently concluded season, its first 20-win campaign in a decade. The Toreros reached the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and return a strong team on paper; only one senior is slated to depart.
Yet the season was tumultuous, as head coach Lamont Smith was arrested at the Oakland International Airport on Feb. 25 for alleged domestic abuse. He was not charged but resigned from USD on March 8.
The HoopDirt report mentioned Ganot and four others as possible replacements: Sam Scholl, a former USD assistant and the acting head coach; Rex Walters, a former University of San Francisco coach who is now an assistant with the Detroit Pistons; Jeff Linder, head coach at Northern Colorado; and Rick Croy, head coach at Division II Cal Baptist.
Ganot declined to say whether he applied for the job, citing fairness to USD.
The Toreros play in the 5,100-seat Jenny Craig Pavilion, about half the size of UH’s Stan Sheriff Center. But, unlike UH’s home in the one-bid Big West Conference, the WCC is frequently a multi-bid league to the NCAA Tournament, thanks largely to powerhouse Gonzaga — though there’s speculation the Bulldogs will move to the Mountain West, possibly as soon as next season.
Ganot is intimately familiar with the WCC, having served as a volunteer assistant at Saint Mary’s from 2003 to 2006, then as a full assistant with the Gaels from 2010 to 2015 with an assistant stint at UH in between.
Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett is a noted Ganot mentor and a veteran who has pull in the conference. He declined to weigh in on the USD job and Ganot on Monday.
“Don’t know anything about it,” Bennett said in a message.
UH went 17-13 (8-8 Big West) in 2017-18, with a second straight one-and-done outing in the Big West tournament following the breakthrough NCAA Tournament season of 2015-16, Ganot’s first full year as a Division I head coach.
UH was slapped with sanctions for most of the following season as a result of past infractions committed by Gib Arnold and his coaching staff. UH then had most of the sanctions (including a postseason ban and reduction of scholarships) lifted.
Ganot’s three-year UH record is 69-35, with three years remaining on his contract through 2020-21. He has an escalating base salary, which was $285,000 this season.
The Rainbow Warriors lose two of their top three scorers going into next season in post players Mike Thomas (13.1 points per game) and Gibson Johnson (10.4). The Rainbows are believed to possess two open scholarships for the upcoming spring signing period beginning April 11.
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