UH hoops lands athletic wing

This time it’s for real.

Aaron Valdes of La Jolla Prep (Calif.) is expected to become an official member of the Hawaii men’s basketball team today, nearly a month after the athletic wing player first confirmed his intent to play for the Rainbow Warriors.

Valdes joining the ‘Bows wasn’t a done deal in late July, when some national recruiting websites picked up on his commitment to UH. However, Valdes was recently admitted into UH and gets an immediate jump on his freshman season after averaging 19.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and three steals per game in prep school. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound multi-sport standout — he was the CIF water polo player of the year at La Serna High prior to enrolling at La Jolla —flew out to the islands on Thursday.

He is the second player UH coach Gib Arnold squeezed through for the 2012-13 season this week, after Croatian forward Ozren Pavlovic arrived on Monday. The fall semester began that day, but players can sometimes be admitted within a week or two after the start of the semester.

Arnold couldn’t yet comment on Valdes; the player’s final paperwork is still pending. But Valdes should compete for minutes at shooting guard for the Rainbow Warriors.

Valdes’ coach at La Jolla, Gary Trousdale, said UH’s primary competition was against West Coast Conference schools Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. In basketball, at least, Valdes was a relative unknown before his year of prep school. But shooting in the high 40s from the field, including 41 percent on 3-pointers, to go with rugged explosiveness to the rim has a way of changing things.

"He was our best player and we’ve had eight players sign Division I this year," Trousdale said when Valdes’ interest in UH first became apparent. "By far he was our best, our go-to guy. Deceptively athletic, can really get up and elevate. Can shoot it, can handle the ball. A tremendous work ethic. I always felt from the beginning that he was our biggest surprise, because when we watched him last summer, last spring, he didn’t show those things. We knew he was a good player and that’s why we took him … but he really exploded against the competition we played against, and worked hard and deserves it. We’re very happy for him. He’s going to be an exciting player. (Hawaii) got a good one."

If Trousdale’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he coached Bo Barnes at Westwind Prep Academy in Arizona before the sharpshooter committed to UH in 2010. He said Valdes was La Jolla’s hardest worker in practice, which raised his ceiling as a player.

"He didn’t have any Division I offers (for basketball) coming out of high school," Trousdale said.

"I think when he started to excel with us … it shocked everybody. He was not on anyone’s radar coming out of high school. … He just rose to the occasion. He gets up so quick. That’s the thing that’s deceptive."

Valdes represents the last scholarship offer Arnold had to give for the coming season.