It’s time for a budding leader to take the podium.

Hawaii swingman Hauns Brereton enters his senior season transitioning from being a complementary player to one the Rainbow Warriors depend on, both in the scoring column and as a voice in the locker room.

The 6-foot-6 Brereton is one of three captains appointed by UH coach Gib Arnold entering the 2012-13 season, which begins Friday against Maryland-Eastern Shore in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

Brereton’s example, along with that of fellow seniors Jace Tavita and Vander Joaquim, is a big reason why these ‘Bows consider their chemistry one of their best collective attributes — even though he’s one of only four active players back from last season.

"I got a good band of brothers here with me as a team and I just want to compete with them every day in the foxhole," Brereton said.

The Tennessee native spent about half of last season coming off the bench for the ‘Bows, after he’d been a primary scoring option at Western Nebraska Community College the year before. He carved out more minutes as the season progressed.

Now he’ll have to get his hands dirty doing a little bit of everything. Brereton spent time back home in the offseason to reflect on his changed role and goals.

"Some days it might fall on me when I might need to score a lot, but there’s going to be a lot of days where I’m going to be that guy making the extra pass for the open shot," he said.

Brereton is so far remembered for a couple of highlight plays. His double-clutch 3-point shot against Xavier sent the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic contest to overtime, where UH eventually scored an upset. A few months later, he capped off UH’s tenure in the Western Athletic Conference with a vicious throwdown on New Mexico State center Tshilidzi Nephawe in UH’s season-ending WAC tournament semifinal loss.