Vander Joaquim did a proverbial double-take when he looked at his phone and saw the text message from Hawaii coach Gib Arnold.
It read in essence: The season is not over. Get ready to play a good Air Force team on Wednesday.
UH (17-14), coming off a three-game losing streak that included a demoralizing defeat to UC Irvine in the Big West tournament’s first round, received a last-second invite on Sunday night to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
"It was very surprising, actually," said Joaquim, a senior center. "I thought the season was over for me, for us. Now we got that text message from Coach Gib saying the season’s still going, and we just gotta be ready for whatever comes."
What’s coming is a quality Falcons team (17-13) from the loaded Mountain West Conference, albeit one missing its top player in senior guard Michael Lyons. Lyons went down with a season-ending knee injury just a minute into his team’s 72-56 loss to UNLV in the MWC quarterfinals a week ago.
Arnold was recruiting in California when he got word of UH’s postseason playmate. On Monday morning he flew back to the islands, where his players had enjoyed what they thought were their first two days of a long offseason.
Arnold said he wasn’t surprised that his team received an invitation from the CIT. The event’s selection chairman is Riley Wallace, the winningest coach in UH program history.
"I thought we were a good enough team to get in," Arnold said. "Looking at the other teams who were invited, we’re right there with ’em. I definitely felt we were deserving of postseason this year. I didn’t know if it was going to happen or not. You wait and see and we got the call."
UH received its first CIT invite two years ago, Arnold’s first season, and UH beat Portland and lost to San Francisco at the Stan Sheriff Center. Only Joaquim is left from the players who saw action in those games.
"I thought I was never going to play in the Stan Sheriff again," Joaquim said. "I’m just happy I have one more last game out there. It’s going to be fun."
UH’s season-worst three-game slide began with a 64-61 loss to Cal Poly on senior night. That defeat stung, especially for seniors Joaquim, Jace Tavita and Hauns Brereton.
"I saw the look in their eyes," junior center Davis Rozitis said. "Like it was over. It’s most important for them. They have the best feeling about it. … They have another chance to redeem themselves on the home court to get a win for senior night."
Junior guard Brandon Spearman, who missed the past five games with a sprained ankle, is a strong possibility to play, after he fully participated in Monday’s practice.
