UH men’s hoops team adds 2 players

As expected, the Hawaii men’s basketball team officially announced guard Garrett Jefferson and forward Christian Standhardinger as late additions to the 2011-12 season roster on Wednesday.

The two shore up a 2011-12 recruiting class that was hit hard by academic ineligibility; four of the six original signees will not be at UH at the start of the season.

Jefferson, a 6-3 sophomore shooting guard out of Citrus College (Calif.), can play immediately.

Standhardinger is a 6-foot-8 power forward, who transferred from Nebraska. He will sit out this season per NCAA rules.

Jefferson, a sophomore and California native, has three years of eligibility. He put up 7.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game as a defensive stopper at Citrus.

“Garrett is a young man that is going to be a great fit for our team,” UH coach Gib Arnold said in a release. “He’s a great athlete who can gets baskets in different ways with his athleticism and really gets at it on the defensive end. He’s also a great student — he graduated from junior college in a year. We saw him late in the season and went after him pretty aggressively. I think that the fans will enjoy watching him for the next few years.”

Standhardinger, a junior, is from Munich, Germany. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 22 career games as a Cornhusker, with a career-best game of 25 points and eight rebounds at Iowa State.

He only played six games as a sophomore before leaving the team last fall, reportedly after clashing with Huskers coach Doc Sadler. After redshirting, he will have two years of eligibility remaining.

The forward is one of a handful of Division I basketball players of Filipino ancestry. His mother is originally from the Philippines. He’ll also have some familiarity with the UH coaches; UH associate head coach Walter Roese coached him during his freshman season at Nebraska.

“We are thrilled to have a player of Christian’s caliber join our team,” Arnold said. “He was one of the best players coming out of Germany before coming to the United States, so we’re very fortunate to have him make his way here. He’s a versatile player with a great motor, who can both score and rebound. He’s going to be a great addition to our frontcourt.”