Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Thursday, December 12, 2024 75° Today's Paper


SportsTop News

UH considers self-imposed penalties on men’s hoops

Brian McInnis

The University of Hawaii is discussing self imposing penalties on its men’s basketball program in the wake of the apparent conclusion of an NCAA investigation, officials confirmed Wednesday.

The NCAA reportedly closed out interviews Friday in its investigation, which began in March.

Self-imposed penalties could come in the next couple of weeks as UH seeks to implement sanctions before the start of its season and ahead of an official notice of allegations from the NCAA.

Head coach Gib Arnold’s team practiced like normal on Wednesday evening.

"First I’ve heard of it," Arnold said after the practice. "So, again, we’ve gone through no comments on that situation since the beginning, so first I’ve heard of it."

Arnold was then asked if he had any concerns on what UH might try to impose.

"Don’t even know what it is," Arnold said. "So, we’ll address that once I have some kind of information."

The Rainbow Warriors are scheduled to play a Nov. 6 exhibition game with Hawaii Pacific and officially open their season with Arkansas Pine Bluff Nov. 14 in the Rainbow Classic. 

In January, UH self-reported an NCAA violation, saying "a men’s basketball coach submitted an altered document that was essential for admissions purposes."

Since then investigators have talked to more than 25 people, some of them multiple times, in a wide-ranging inquiry, people interviewed have said.

Athletic director Ben Jay said, "we’re having internal discussions, we’re having talks with our people as to some of the things that we might do." But, he said, "Nothing is solid yet."

Jay declined to say if coaches and or players will be suspended or terminated.

"It is still a work in progress," he said.

So far the only steps acknowledged by UH have been two suspensions of assistant coach Brandyn Akana.

Akana was suspended for 30 days by UH and missed 12 of the team’s final 14 games last season.

Comments are closed.