Miles leaves UH basketball team

Steadiness only goes so far, and that attribute wasn’t enough for point guard Bobby Miles to work out with the Hawaii men’s basketball team.

The sophomore from Los Angeles elected to transfer to a school closer to home after two seasons as a backup in Manoa, UH announced on Wednesday night.

“I really appreciate the effort of Bobby Miles these last two years,” UH coach Gib Arnold said. “I enjoyed coaching him. We had some really good moments with Bobby. … I definitely wish him all the best in finding a place that suits his needs. He can help a lot of programs.”

Miles appeared in 26 of 32 games in 2011-12, averaging 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 14.8 minutes per game. He was used primarily for on-ball defense and to set up the offense.

His field-goal (.382) and free-throw (.476) percentages were subpar, however, making him unreliable in late-game situations, and his playing time steadily diminished behind senior Miah Ostrowski and freshman Shaquille Stokes. He fell out of favor late in the year after he missed a team shootaround before UH’s game vs. Idaho on March 1, and didn’t appear in UH’s final four games.

Miles couldn’t be reached for comment.

Arnold said he would continue to depend on Stokes at the point, as well as ex-Utah guard Jace Tavita, the senior walk-on who has sat out the past year and a half as a redshirt.

“You always want to have three players at each position, so that’s something that we’ll continue to look at in our recruiting this year, as well as next year and down the road with Jace being a senior,” Arnold said.

Miles was part of Arnold’s inaugural, nine-person recruiting class of 2010, which is down to centers Vander Joaquim and Davis Rozitis and forward Trevor Wiseman.

He is the second return-eligible player to depart in the spring, after forward Joston Thomas, who is going pro. It is believed UH now has three scholarships to work with for the upcoming spring signing period, which begins April 11.