This Decision is getting plenty of support.

Leroy Lutu Jr., a walk-on junior guard with the Hawaii men’s basketball team, has decided to take his talents across the UH athletics complex to play for the Warriors football team as a safety.

Secondary coach Rich Miano said yesterday that Lutu Jr., the son of former University High and Washington Huskies standout Leroy Lutu, will redshirt this season once he arrives on campus for the start of the fall semester later this month.

Lutu Jr. weighed his options over the summer and conferred with new basketball coach Gib Arnold on the phone before making his choice this week.

"My family and I thought football was the right choice for my future," Lutu Jr. said. "I enjoyed playing basketball at UH, but I’m excited for what may lie ahead in football."

Big things could eventually be expected of the 6-foot-3, 200-pound former prep star at Mercer Island (Wash.) High. After redshirting, he’ll have two years to play two seasons.

"We’re extremely excited about his athleticism, his bloodline, his potential," Miano said. "We’re very excited that Coach Arnold allowed that to happen. You look at his vertical jump, close to 40 inches, and you look at his size … he’s a prototype NFL type of safety. We have a hard time finding guys that big, strong, fast."

Miano added it’s to be determined whether Lutu will play free or strong safety, or even linebacker if he got bigger.

Safeties Spencer Smith and Mana Silva are seniors, leaving a hole that Lutu could potentially fill.

"If he can learn the system in a year, he’ll have a chance to compete for a job, and a scholarship, by next year," Miano said.

Lutu Jr. was a two-sport player at Mercer Island, and, as a defensive back, he got more Division I recruiting looks than in basketball. But he chose to play hoops, his first love, as a walk-on for his first two years at UH under Bob Nash.

As a sophomore, he averaged 1.9 points in 7.7 minutes per game. However, he closed the season strong with career-high efforts of 12 points in each of the last two games.

Arnold, a first-year coach, said Lutu had a spot on the new-look basketball team without a tryout, if he wanted it.

"He thought his best chance to be successful at the collegiate level would be in football," Arnold said. "And I support him in that. I would have loved to have him with us, but in the same breath, if he can help the football team, that’s great. Same school, same colors. I hope he can go on and have a great career. … I’ll be one of his biggest fans."

Tourney format changed

The Western Athletic Conference confirmed yesterday it is changing the format of the 2011 WAC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas to a double-bye bracket for the top two teams of the regular season.

It matches the format of the eight-team West Coast Conference tournament, which is designed to protect the league’s best two teams and to a lesser extent the third- and fourth-seeded teams. Seeds Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 would have to win four games in four days to win the tourney and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth, while the No. 1 and 2 seeds start in the semifinals and would need only to win two games on the final two days.

"Both our men and women (coaches) recommended it, and it was based on their belief that it gives greater value to the regular season and rewards the teams that have performed," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.

"It’s an experiment," he added. "There’s always going to be some potential downside. … We hope that there aren’t any unintended consequences."

The WAC’s ninth-place team will still miss out on the tourney next season, as UH did in 2009-10.

"I’ll see how I like it this year," Arnold said. "I think it has huge advantages for the teams like Utah State and New Mexico State, who will be predicted to win the conference or be up there. I think if you get a double bye, that’s pretty darn good."

Pairings on ESPNews

The bracket pairings for the second annual Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will be announced on ESPNews today at 8 a.m., along with ESPN’s other owned and operated tournaments like the Old Spice Classic and Charleston Classic.

UH, which finished fourth in the inaugural edition of the eight-team DHC, will have stiff competition regardless of its first-round foe.

Butler, Baylor, Mississippi State, Florida State, Washington State, Utah and San Diego are the potential opponents in the games played Dec. 22, 23 and 25.

"I guarantee it won’t be easy, I know that much," Arnold said.