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Arnold’s recruits can start signing today

Time to show your work.

Starting today and over the next month, second-year coach Gib Arnold and the assistant coaches of the Hawaii men’s basketball team find out if countless hours of road recruiting equal results in the form of completed national letters of intent. Today is the first day of the spring signing period. Prospects have until May 18 to sign a binding agreement.

UH currently has three scholarships to award for the 2011-12 season. The player believed to be the most secure prospect is Dorsey (Calif.) High senior Dillon Biggs. Tyler McDaniels, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward at Georgia Perimeter College, is another possible signee. He is the son of UH assistant coach Benjy Taylor.

GIB’S EXTENSION
TALKS CONTINUE

Gib Arnold and athletic director Jim Donovan remain in discussions for a raise and contract extension.

Arnold’s original contract was for three years and base pay of $240,000 per year.

Donovan met with Arnold in Kailua on Monday. “We had a good conversation,” Donovan said.

Arnold said: “We discussed some matters, but nothing was finalized. It was good conversation about the program and where we need to go, stuff like that. I think it was positive, but we’ll continue to meet and kind of hammer some things through. There’s nothing I can comment on right now at this time.”

Arnold matched Bruce O’Neil for the most wins by a first-year UH coach (19) in the college-only era of opponents. UH had three straight losing seasons before his arrival.

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Brian McInnis, Star-Advertiser

Arnold had to hustle to put together his first recruiting class shortly after being hired in March 2010. Many of those players were integral to the team’s 19-13 record.

For his second class, he and assistants Walter Roese, Taylor and Brandyn Akana had much more time to scour the mainland and beyond.

"I hope it plays out well. I’m sure we’ll have some guys signing in the next couple days," Arnold said. "We’ll hopefully have a couple locked up … in the next 24, 48 hours. But we still also plan on bringing a couple guys out to campus over the next couple weeks as well."

Biggs, an athletic 6-foot-7 small forward, averaged around 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists a game at Dorsey.

McDaniels had a strong freshman season at Lake Michigan College at around 18 points and seven rebounds a game, then put up 10.7 points and five rebounds as Georgia Perimeter’s third-leading scorer.

Other prospects include Feather River (Calif.) College small forward Michael Harvey and Travis (Texas) High combo guard Anthony Odunsi, who entered the UH recruiting picture after he de-committed from Iowa State. They may be among a group who could visit the Manoa campus this weekend.

Arnold cannot comment on specific players until they are signed.

Two California-based high school seniors, Morningside guard Gerry Blakes and Serra forward Ronnie Stevens, signed letters of intent during the fall period.

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