There’s no use trying to brush it off. The shoulder chip is here to stay. Hawaii sophomore point guard Quincy Smith remembers with clarity the teams that passed him up, the bureaucrats who wouldn’t let him play, the struggle to make his way back from basketball purgatory.

Several teams, Division I and Division II, courted then backed off Smith during a two-year period in which he was basically shelved — first as a senior ruled ineligible to play at Deer Valley High in Antioch, Calif., because of transfer rules, then because of a torn ligament in his foot that caused him to miss nearly all his games at the La Jolla Prep Academy.

Frustrating didn’t begin to describe it. Those two years were an eternity for a player in his late teens looking to make the leap to college ball.

Finally, his hometown City College of San Francisco gave him a chance. Smith took the opportunity and ran with it; he was the leading assist man on a team that went 30-1. He earned his associate’s degree after just a season there, making himself even more of a commodity with three years of eligibility remaining.

"I had a chip on my shoulder last year to just go out there and prove all the schools that passed up on me, that I’m a Division I guy," Smith said. "It was funny. I remember I committed here (UH) and I got calls from other schools, asking me, was I still available. Schools that were recruiting me out of high school that didn’t want me when I wasn’t playing. But I had a good year at City, won 30 games, and they was back on me. That was kind of funny to me. I kind of had to brush them off because they left me when I was down."

Smith’s competitive spirit comes from a basketball-centric family. His father, Kirk, played at San Jose State. Quincy’s younger brother, Kendall, has started 13 of 17 games for UNLV as a true freshman this season. Two other younger brothers are coming up through the high school ranks with college aspirations.

The eldest of the Smith brothers turned to his family during his darkest moments, particularly during a dragged-out court appeals process attempting to join the team at Deer Valley coming from Salesian High in Richmond, Calif.

Though distant Salesian required a daily 1 hour, 15 minute commute, five hearings came back the same way — you can’t play.

"It was a really tough year. … Then the prep school thing was a mess," Kirk Smith said. "Quincy matured a lot in two years. I wouldn’t wish what Quincy went through on my worst enemy. In that two-year stretch, he went through a lot of trials. But I think it brought us closer as a family."

Smith has the opportunity in the coming weeks to stare down some of those he feels wronged him — some teams in the Big West. In fact, make that just about everybody in the league.

"A lot of Big West schools. I’d say 80 percent of them," Smith said. "I know all the coaches there … I got a chip on my shoulder every time we go there or every time they come here."

You can bet Smith’s saga will be on his mind again when UH (11-5 overall) hosts UC Riverside (6-11, 1-2 Big West) on Saturday as the Rainbow Warriors search for their first BWC win of the season. UH is coming off a disappointing 0-2 road trip to Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge to open league play.

Smith, UH’s most reliable bench scorer at 6.2 points per game, did his part in the 77-65 loss at Poly, notching seven points and career bests of seven assists and three steals. He dished four more dimes in the 79-78 setback at Northridge, keeping his assist-to-turnover ratio above 2-to-1 on the season, a team best.

For all the talk of slights, Smith has been a selfless performer at UH, willingly embracing a complementary role either next to or behind starter Keith Shamburger. He’s hovered right around 20 minutes per game as a reserve.

"Well, it’s new for me. Most of my life I started," Smith said. "I just want to make plays. Whether it be offensive, defensive, things that don’t even jump in the stat book. Deflections, box outs, anything. I just want to make plays for my team that’s going to help us win."

With Shamburger struggling to shoot lately — he’s 3-for-22 in the past three games — Smith may even see a heavier workload, including playing in tandem with Shamburger.

"He’s a fighter," UH coach Gib Arnold said of Smith. "Whether he comes off the bench or starts, I know he’ll be there when it counts. I think he just likes to win. So for him, I don’t think it’s as big a concern as winning."

The athletically built 6-footer has been especially effective in transition and while driving to the basket in traffic. His biggest work in progress remains his jump shot, which he’s hesitant to uncork even with space.

He’s attempted only eight 3-pointers this season, making two.

"(We need) for him to feel comfortable where, (if) they sag off of you, knock it down," said UH assistant Brandyn Akana, who oversees the point guards. "When he does figure out the outside game, he’s going to be a very, very good player. He’s got three years, so we got time."