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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii's Zane Johnson passed off to teammate Joston Thomas for the game-winning shot in overtime.
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There’s another familiar face around the Hawaii basketball office.
Former UH guard Zane Johnson arrived back in town this week and is expected to join new coach Eran Ganot’s staff in a to-be-determined capacity in the coming days.
Since departing the Rainbow Warriors as the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made in 2012, Johnson has played professionally in foreign leagues, most recently in England and Canada.
But Johnson has expressed a desire to transition from playing to coaching. He has a particular interest in player development.
"This is a great opportunity for me to get into coaching and to do it with someone that I trust," Johnson said Tuesday.
Although Ganot still has two full assistant positions to fill, Johnson may begin his coaching career in a volunteer capacity — the same way a young Ganot began his climb up the ladder at Saint Mary’s in 2003.
The 6-foot-6 Johnson was one of Ganot’s first recruits at UH, when Ganot assisted for Bob Nash.
Upon arrival at UH in 2009, Johnson had to sit out games for a season as a transfer from Arizona. By the time the Phoenix native could play, Gib Arnold had replaced Nash as head coach, and Ganot landed an assistant job at Saint Mary’s.
Johnson was productive, going 180-for-468 on 3s in his two-year UH career. He broke Predrag Savovic’s record for career 3s, 178, to cap the 2011-12 season. He was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference honorable mention.
His 14.9 career scoring average is 15th in the UH record books.
