In the wake of Cayman Shutter’s suspension, University of Hawaii coach Norm Chow was asked if he was pursuing another quarterback for the upcoming season.

“This isn’t the NFL,” Chow pointedly told the Star-Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai the other day. “We don’t have a transaction wire. We play who we have,” Chow said.

But down the hall in the athletic department, something resembling the NBA waiver wire apparently lives.

Backup point guard Bobby Miles “elects to transfer” — as UH put it — and two days later it is revealed that point guard Keith Shamburger will be transferring in from San Jose State.

The week before it was announced forward Joston Thomas had “elected to forgo” his senior season. And it remains to be seen if this is the end of the offseason moves.

Cut away all the posturing and sweep up the rose petals and in the NBA, where it is a bottom-line business, they would call this making salary-cap space.

In the NCAA, where it is something more than just an academic enterprise, it is simply known as freeing up scholarship room.

In both cases it can be a last-resort remedy for teams in need of a turnaround. Which, after the disappointment of a 16-16 (6-8 WAC) finish, sure looks to be the case in Manoa.

The difference, of course, here is that in the NBA they are well-paid pros. And, in college, they are, well … school officials like to employ the term “student-athletes” a lot.

The common misconception is that so-called “full-ride” athletic scholarships are granted for the duration of a player’s eligibility. The truth is that they are up for renewal annually at the coach’s recommendation and school’s discretion.

Though that is a topic of considerable debate in major college athletics these days. There has been a push by some schools to guarantee multiyear scholarships that would be revokable only on the violation of rules.

As it is, very few are actually yanked away from players who go kicking and screaming or invoke a multistage right to appeal. A more common practice is that a player is brought in at season’s end and given what is known as the facts of life speech by the coach. As in: Fact is we don’t see you playing much for us, I have a job and a courtesy car to keep and we need your scholarship for somebody who can help us win, so start looking elsewhere.

And the coach may even make some calls on a player’s behalf to help speed and soothe the departure.

In cases where a player doesn’t put in the requisite weight room or offseason workout time, doesn’t take care of academics or is repeatedly disruptive, a coach owes it to the team to make a change. Then, it is on the player. And, depending on what he knew, maybe the coach who brought him in.

But when a player puts forth the effort and isn’t deemed good enough to compete at a high level or doesn’t fit the system, well, that’s a different story. Then it is more of a reflection on those who did the projecting and the recruiting.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.