Brandon Spearman was incredulous.

Soon after he signed with the Hawaii men’s basketball team in April out of Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, the junior guard was notified by UH coach Gib Arnold about a certain name on the 2012-13 schedule.

Illinois was coming.

Illinois, the prominent program that Spearman followed for years, a two-hour drive from his native Chicago. The program he knew everything about: its players, its coaches, its Final Fours.

And the program that passed on him.

"I’m like, you serious?" Spearman said, laughing as he recalled the moment Arnold told him. "I can’t wait for this opportunity. I can’t let this opportunity go past. I just can’t wait."

UH (3-0) meets Illinois (2-0) of the Big Ten at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Fighting Illini and new coach John Groce will play that stand-alone game at the Stan Sheriff Center, then head to Lahaina for the EA Sports Maui Invitational next week.

Spearman, a 6-3, 200-pound combo guard, has gotten off to a fast start at his new home. He’s averaged 12.3 points on 46.3 percent shooting in wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Houston Baptist, with his output increasing each game thus far.

But the Illinois game will be one of the biggest tests in the early season for the largely rebuilt Rainbow Warriors. Spearman above all — he’s one of seven new players to appear in all three games for UH — desires to ace it.

"I know Brandon’s going to be fired up," tri-captain Hauns Brereton said. "You know, with Brandon, he actually always surprises me. Whenever I think I see him at his highest level of intensity, he somehow finds another level."

He showed a national TV audience what it meant to him to find his way back to the Division I level in the wee hours Tuesday morning. Spearman, clutching the basketball like a trophy, let out a primal roar as the buzzer sounded on UH’s College Hoops Tip-off Marathon win over HBU.

To go with his hoops passion, he offers a little bit of everything you’d want at the guard position: solid defense, and some ball-handling and shooting ability. Perhaps his best talent is his slashing skill and knack for finding lanes in the open court.

"I lay it all out for my teammates," Spearman said. "Whatever need to be done on the floor, I get it done."

After leading Simeon High to the 2009-10 4A state championship his senior year, Spearman landed at Dayton. One year as a freshman reserve with the Flyers was enough for him; he cited differences with the coaching staff and moved on.

Instead of redshirting at another Division I institution, he went the JUCO route and became team captain on an Indian Hills team that was the top-ranked program in the country for much of last season. He averaged 11.7 points with 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. All the while, he burned to be back playing D-I.

"I really didn’t have a good experience (at Dayton), coaching-wise, and being a player there," he said. "But coming here made me think about that year and how I want to approach being at Division I."

Spearman quickly bought in to the tight-knit ethos of this year’s ‘Bows once he arrived in the summer. That helped him earn the starting nod at shooting guard in the preseason.

"Brandon’s been extremely reliable for us. He’s a guy who I really trust on the floor," Arnold said.

The coach needs him to continue to be a perimeter scoring threat to complement the team’s workhorses — big men Vander Joaquim, Christian Standhardinger and Isaac Fotu.

"In order for (the post game) to be successful, you need to have a counterpunch," Arnold said. "And that would be guys like Hauns and Spearman, and those guys who continue to have an outside shot. And also create off the dribble. One of our strengths is we’ve been able to get up and down the floor. He’s really good at that; he has a good knack for finding the open area and slicing into the defense’s weaknesses."

Spearman will probe away against players he knows well — Illinois guards D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul and Tracy Abrams, among others. There are nine players from his home state on the Illini roster, and he’s seen many on the high school and AAU circuits.

"Man, it brings back a lot of memories," Spearman said. "Back in middle school, I could see myself playing there. But as years progressed, I thought to myself, I really want to go against these guys. They really didn’t recruit me. And I’m playing with a chip on my shoulder, like I really got looked over.

"I just can’t wait for this opportunity this Friday. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity three years now, and it’s finally here. I finally get to play Illinois. It’s amazing."