Qingdao, China » Another recruit has fallen by the academic wayside for the Hawaii men’s basketball team — at least for now.
Fortunately for the Rainbow Warriors, reinforcements have been called in.
Dillon Biggs, an athletic 6-foot-6 forward out of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, became the third casualty in the six-person 2011-12 signing class for UH. He will likely attend a prep school for a year, then try again to get into a Division I school.
UH coach Gib Arnold is sure that school will still be Hawaii.
"One of the reasons you sign a guy who might not make it is because you have that relationship, and we’ve spent a whole year now on that relationship," Arnold said. "Once we signed him, we could call him as much as we wanted. When we were in Los Angeles, we’d visit.
"We have a relationship with the parents that goes beyond a regular recruiting relationship. … He’s expressed to us that he wants to be here, wants to join us, and we’re going to continue to try to help him the best we can."
UH won’t immediately have Biggs’ services, but a new player has entered the game. A source close to the team indicates that Christian Standhardinger, a former Nebraska forward, has accepted a scholarship offer to UH but will have to sit out games in the upcoming season as a transfer player. UH also recently added 6-3 junior college guard Garrett Jefferson.
The 6-foot-8 Standhardinger, of Munich, Germany, was the Cornhuskers’ third-leading scorer in six games as a sophomore at 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He reportedly left the team in December after clashing with Huskers coach Doc Sadler.
Arnold said he couldn’t comment on Standhardinger.
UH associate head coach Walter Roese, who is not with UH on its Warriors to Asia tour, is believed to be the main contact for the forward. Roese came to UH from Nebraska and coached Standhardinger during his freshman season.
After leaving Nebraska, Standhardinger reportedly was to transfer to La Salle, but the school reneged when a police report surfaced that he was ticketed for public indecency in a park in Lincoln, Neb., in January.
The incident apparently didn’t sway UH from seeking his services.
The only signee of next season’s class with his fate unsealed is Morningside High (Los Angeles) graduate Gerry Blakes.
Thanks to some summer school, the combo guard has become an NCAA academic qualifier, but getting him enrolled into UH at this late stage — the fall semester starts on Aug. 22 — may be difficult.
Johnson to give it a go
Hawaii senior guard Zane Johnson might return to action in UH’s second game against the Qingdao Eagles on Sunday night.
Johnson sprained his right ankle just before the trip and has sat out of all practices and games so far.
"I’m going to try to play," Johnson said. "It feels good."
On Saturday night, UH watched film of its 81-80 loss to Qingdao on Friday. The Rainbow Warriors were to make an appearance at two clinics Sunday evening just prior to their second meeting with the Eagles.
A chance encounter
What are the odds of running into a former Hawaii football player in an alleyway of a Chinese city of millions?
High enough to actually happen, apparently. In Qingdao the UH travel party bumped into former Warrior Matt Elam, who exchanged pleasantries when he saw all the "H" shirts.
Elam, the cousin of former UH kicker Jason Elam, played defensive tackle under Fred vonAppen and June Jones in 1997-99. He tried his hand at the Canadian Football League afterward.
He explained he was in China to get stem cell treatment to improve his eyesight that he couldn’t get in the USA.
"I spent my life savings," Elam said. "I might try to go back (to the CFL) with better vision."
