Bobbitt snags season’s first Big West honor

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
University of Hawaii’s Roderick Bobbitt drove past Nevada’s Tyron Criswell during an Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic game at the Stan Sheriff Center.

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Hawaii point guard Roderick Bobbitt was tabbed the first Big West Player of the Week of the young season on Monday for his sublime performances in two UH wins over the weekend.

It was the first such honor for Bobbitt, who came out of junior college to lead the nation in total steals in 2014-15 and earn Big West Defensive Player of the Year, as well as all-conference second-team honors.

Bobbitt and the Rainbow Warriors were set to take on Nevada in a late-night contest to cap the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic overnight. The game was scheduled to start at 11 p.m. Monday night as part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-off Marathon.

“Very appreciative of the award, owe it to my teammates and it’s only the start to a great season for this team,” Bobbitt messaged the Honolulu Star-Advertiser before the Nevada game.

He is the first UH player to receive a Big West weekly honor since Christian Standhardinger on Feb. 17, 2014. Standhardinger also received the first POW award of the 2013-14 season. No UH player was selected as a weekly winner in 2014-15, despite enjoying a 22-13 campaign.

Through Sunday’s games, Bobbitt ranked tied for ninth nationally in assists per game (9.0) and was tied for second in the country in total steals (nine).

The senior co-captain set a career high — and broke the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic record — with 14 assists in an 87-76 win over Montana State on Friday. He followed that up with a 23-point, four-assist, four-steal performance while playing all 40 minutes in a 74-63 victory over Coastal Carolina on Sunday afternoon. For the two games, he averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 4.5 steals, and shot better than 50 percent from the field. He is 6-for-11 on 3-pointers.

After the win over CCU, Eran Ganot was prompted to compare Bobbitt to some of the point guard talent he worked with at Saint Mary’s.

“You talk about (Matthew) Dellavedova, Mickey McConnell, before that Patty Mills, guys who were Cousy Award finalists. Stephen Holt,” Ganot said. “These are top point guards in the country. You look at some box scores and you see some 40s (minutes) in there. Credit (Bobbitt), too, for adjusting to some of the rule changes (like no hand-checking). He’s managed to stay in the game. The concern early was how he would handle that, especially because he’s handsy. But he’s adjusted.”