Improbably, Hawaii’s waking nightmare of a preseason — which included an NCAA investigation, the firing of the team’s head coach and the departure of the program’s best player — ended on a note of optimism.

The Rainbow Warriors received a physical and emotional boost going into Friday’s season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the form of Sammis Reyes, the freshman forward who’d previously announced his intention to transfer out in the wake of Gib Arnold’s termination on Oct. 28.

Now UH has a much-needed additional big body to call upon as it plays eight games over the next 13 days, though it is unlikely the chiseled 6-foot-6 Chilean will see action on the first day of the 50th Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic. The four teams in the round-robin field will play three games over a four-day span, tipped off by Cal State Bakersfield and High Point at 5 p.m. Friday.

With or without an active Reyes this weekend, UH is still feeling out its new motion offense and man-to-man defense under acting head coach Benjy Taylor. But the ‘Bows brimmed with energy in recent practices, eager to face someone else.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 10. We’re ready to play," said co-captain Quincy Smith.

Coming off a 20-11 season under Arnold that was absent postseason play, UH will have four new starters against the Golden Lions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Senior shooting guard Garrett Nevels is the only returnee to put up significant scoring last season, at 13.1 points per game.

Gone are point guard Keith Shamburger, small forward Brandon Spearman and all-conference power forwards Isaac Fotu and Christian Standhardinger, the nucleus that powered UH to its highest scoring output — 80 points per game — since the early 1970s.

UH planned to build around Fotu this season, but he turned pro in the wake of the firings of Arnold and assistant Brandyn Akana.

In a short span, the team had to regroup around Taylor and each other.

"Hey, it’s college basketball," Taylor said. "It’s what they love to do. I mean, they’ll get up for it and we’ll play. We’ll answer the bell every night, and I think that we’re excited. It’s time to play, and this is what we’ve been waiting on all year."

Junior Roderick Bobbitt earned the starting point guard job in the preseason and Nevels is entrenched at the 2. Either Aaron Valdes or Negus Webster-Chan will get the nod at small forward. Mike Thomas is the go-to power forward and Stefan Jovanovic is the team’s only traditional center. But if UH elects to go small from the start against smallish UAPB, UH’s front line will be the 6-5 Valdes, the 6-7 Webster-Chan and the 6-7 Thomas.

Smith and freshman guard Isaac Fleming will be the other primary bench contributors.

Reyes announced his intentions to leave even before Fotu, but he continued attending classes at UH with the goal of leaving at the semester break. He said Thursday he’d planned to take a recruiting visit to another school on Friday. But Reyes changed his mind after what he called "a long talk" with UH assistant coach Senque Carey. He then spoke with Taylor and team captains Garrett Nevels and Smith, and was welcomed back. Reyes watched Friday afternoon’s practice from the sidelines.

"He’s going to work his way back into everything and start from ground zero," Taylor said. "He understands that. He’s not in great shape right now because he hasn’t really been doing anything. … I told him today, don’t put pressure on yourself. Just learn what we’re doing … buy in. And everything else will take care of itself. When it’s time, we will all know."

Said Smith: "Of course we (welcome) him back with open arms … but he’s going to have to do something hard to prove that he wants to be here."

Reyes doesn’t know any of the handful of plays or sets implemented in the past two weeks under Taylor.

"It’s a little different. I just gotta adjust to the new coaching staff," Reyes said. "But they’ve been pretty good so far. I saw them play, I see them now in practice and stuff. It looks efficient. So, we’ll see what happens from now. I’m just trying to stay positive."

Pine Bluff returns nine players and three starters from its 13-18 squad last season. Guards Tevin Hammond and Marcel Mosley placed fifth and 16th in the nation in steals last season, respectively. Hammond and Mosley averaged a combined 26.6 ppg, and are expected to be their team’s offensive focal points.