This might come as a surprise to you. It certainly did to me. According to the NCAA, I’m a University of Hawaii basketball booster. 

You might be a booster, too, without realizing it … even if you never bought season tickets or never made a donation.

Technically, I’m a booster because, on a night off, I bought tickets to attend one game last season (for work purposes). And, since I paid with a credit card, UH has record of the financial transaction. So, if I were to ever lend my 12-year-old Saturn Ion to a Rainbow Warrior basketball player, I’d be putting the program in grave danger with the NCAA.

Well, I’ve never had any intention of doing that — and any self-respecting 20-year-old would really have to be desperate for transportation to step foot into my vehicle.

Brian Uy says he was out of town when UH basketball player Davis Rozitis borrowed his 2004 Porsche Cayenne for a couple of days in 2012. But since Rozitis was his friend, he said he didn’t have a problem with it when he learned upon his return that his then-girlfriend lent the car to Rozitis, as Uy claims.

Unfortunately for UH, the NCAA does have a problem with it.

In the Notice of Allegations delivered to UH last week, the loan of the vehicle is described as "an impermissible benefit."

And a key part of this equation is that Uy — like I am — is defined as a booster.

He was surprised to learn that, too. He spent a lot of time around some of the UH players, but says he never bought season tickets or made monetary donations. He’s never been a member of a booster club.

"If I were asked if I consider myself more a supporter of UH or more a supporter of a friend, it’s definitely of a friend," Uy said. "(Rozitis) came to visit me when I was seriously ill in the hospital. That’s a friend.

"I guess athletes aren’t allowed to have friends."

Uy said that when he was interviewed by NCAA investigator Mike Sheridan last May, Sheridan told him he didn’t think Uy was a booster.

But UH athletic director Ben Jay said research indicated Uy met the criteria, due to having bought tickets to games and paying for items he won at a fundraiser.

The way the allegation reads is consistent with the overall theme of this investigation: UH’s violations started out as relatively minor, but were compounded by attempts to cover them up.

Rozitis should have known better than to borrow the car. Uy, or whomever, should have known better than to lend it to a college athlete, regardless of booster status. But the worst part of it is that then-head coach Gib Arnold, according to the allegations, knew about it and did not report it. Even this, though, looks to be at least partially product of the NCAA’s confusing rules, since Arnold "concluded (Uy) was not a booster and that an NCAA rules violation did not occur …," according to what is described in the allegations as a written statement from Arnold.

"There’s always things we can do to improve compliance education," Jay said. "I want to make sure we are educating our boosters, alumni and donors."

The coaches and student-athletes, too. That should go without being said, but if the allegations are accurate it’s obvious not enough is being done there.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.