The last time Saint Mary’s College came to Hawaii for basketball, then-Rainbow Warriors assistant coach Eran Ganot was equipped with a quip.

"So what’s the story here? ‘The prodigal son returns?’ " Ganot asked in 2009 about former ‘Bows point guard Mark Campbell, who at the time was a Gaels assistant coach participating in the first Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

Four years later, it’s an apt question for Ganot himself.

Ganot, a fourth-year assistant with Saint Mary’s, arrived in Honolulu with the Gaels on Friday for the fifth edition of the Diamond Head. Saint Mary’s (9-0) is one of two unbeaten teams in the field, along with No. 17 Iowa State.

Play begins Sunday, with Saint Mary’s taking on South Carolina at 6 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center, followed by UH (7-2) against Boise State (8-2). If UH’s and the Gaels’ results match on Day 1 — win or lose — they’ll play each other on Monday, setting up some potentially conflicted emotions for Ganot, who has made it a point to visit the islands once a year because of fond memories of his tenure in Manoa.

"I tell people all the time, the weather is unbelievable in Hawaii. It’s the second-best part of Hawaii. The people there are tremendous," Ganot said this week. "For me, I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to work at two great programs."

To say Ganot landed softly after Bob Nash’s staff dispersed in 2010 would be an understatement. Ganot, after four years at UH (three as a Nash assistant), took an assistant job with Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, and it’s been one heck of a successful ride since. The small West Coast Conference school in Moraga, Calif., posted at least 25 wins in each of Ganot’s first three years there and is well on its way to that stratosphere again, even after losing star guard Matthew Dellavedova to the NBA.

His work ethic and dry wit have made Ganot an easy guy to like at each of his stops. Riley Wallace brought him to UH as a director of basketball operations, and he was promoted after a single season. UH coach Gib Arnold even tried to keep Ganot on board during the transition period between coaching staffs. He’s still remembered and well-liked around the athletic department.

For Bennett, it was a no-brainer to bring him back. Ganot was treasured as an administrative assistant between 2003 and ’06 at Saint Mary’s, right after the New Jersey native got his degree from Swarthmore (Pa.), a Division III school, where he played all five positions for the basketball team.

Today, Ganot, 32, has been an indispensable member of the Gaels’ staff, involved in all aspects of the program, from recruiting and scheduling to on-court coaching and player development.

"On my staff, he’s the guy that I can go to about, ‘Hey, what’s going on in our program? What do you think?’ " Bennett said. "If it’s moving forward or where we’re at at that point. So I lean on him a lot. I trust him a lot. … Anything involved in our program, whether it be recruiting, coaching, program building, relations with our players, he has his fingerprints all over our program. We’re lucky to have him. I’m glad we got him back."

Ganot’s star has been on the rise for a while, and he might even get to try his hand as an in-game head coach immediately after this tournament. Bennett is suspended from coaching the first five games of conference play, starting Dec. 30 at Pacific, due to an NCAA decision announced earlier this year for recruiting violations. The NCAA said the sanctions stemmed from improper recruitment of athletes by a former assistant coach before 2010 — a timeframe predating Ganot. Bennett tried unsuccessfully to appeal the decision.

The Gaels haven’t announced which of their three assistants — Ganot, Adam Caporn or Marty Clarke — will get the coaching nod in Bennett’s stead. But Ganot has been with the program the longest in total, making him a viable candidate.

Ganot hopes to head up his own program one day. Among former UH assistants to land head coaching jobs, Jamie Dixon at Pittsburgh and Rick Pitino at Louisville remain the gold standard.

"The short answer, anyone who gets into it initially … that’s the ultimate destination," Ganot said. "You want to run your own program one day. My approach to that has been pretty simple and pretty much the same. That will hopefully come if things continue to progress the way they have. It’s so hard to achieve. I know this, that’s been a goal and I’ve put it to the side. The only thing that matters is doing a great job where I’m at, enjoying where I’m at and I think that’s helped. That’s just the way I am and that’s just the way I like to do it."

Perhaps Ganot will be will be back with the Gaels for the 2017 Diamond Head Classic — the next year Saint Mary’s is eligible to return. Perhaps not. But it’s guaranteed he’ll keep coming back on his own, to a second home he visits far more often than his roots on the East Coast.

"I’m excited to be (here) for one, a great challenge for our team, and two, to hopefully find some ways where I can see some friends, and really, family," Ganot said. "People treated me like family while I was there."