Either from the end of the bench or from behind a computer screen, Stefan Jankovic watches his Hawaii men’s basketball teammates anxiously.

His anxiety has only increased as his debut date with the Rainbow Warriors approaches. The redshirt sophomore, who transferred from Missouri in January, must wait until the fall semester concludes to be eligible to play in games.

The sharp-shooting 6-foot-11 Serbian-Canadian has been a scout teamer to this point for 7-2 UH and isn’t on the road trip for Saturday’s contest against BYU in Salt Lake City.

"The team’s doing so well, I don’t want to come in and mess anything up," Jankovic said. "So I’ve really dedicated myself. I’ve been in the gym every single day. When they’re on a road trip, I come here (auxiliary Gym 2) and shoot, a thousand shots. Making sure I’ll be ready. I want to make sure we’ll be even better when I come in."

It was originally thought he’d be able to play in the Dec. 19 game against Chaminade at the Blaisdell Arena, but it’s now hoped by the team that the opener of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic vs. Nebraska on Dec. 22 will be his debut.

"Grades have to clear. The NCAA has to approve. There’s a process to it," Jankovic said. "Hopefully administration can get everything through and Nebraska will be the first game."

Jankovic, or "Janks" to help distinguish him from center Stefan Jovanovic, averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in a little over a season at Mizzou. Once he can play here he’s expected to contribute immediately to a UH front line in need of size and depth.

Jankovic’s Missouri teammate and fellow transfer to UH, Negus Webster-Chan, has made an impact with the ‘Bows after similarly putting up small numbers with the Tigers.

Seeing that helped Jankovic reaffirm his commitment to the team in the wake of coach Gib Arnold’s firing in the preseason, which briefly cast some doubt on Jankovic’s future in Manoa.

"I’ll be honest, after the whole Gib situation and everything going on, a couple weeks passed and I finally settled down," Jankovic said. "I knew I was going to be here, and saw the season and college basketball (going on) and you could say it flipped a switch."

Sleep, then practice

The team arrived in Salt Lake City late Thursday night in preparation for the BYU game at the Utah Jazz’s EnergySolutions Arena at 1 p.m. on Saturday. UH last played its former WAC rival there in 2010, in Arnold’s first year. The Cougars won that one by 21 points.

It was a full travel day (about 12 hours) for UH because the Rainbow Warriors did not fly direct; they had a long layover in Los Angeles. They were to arrive in Salt Lake late Thursday and did not plan to practice.

"We’ll get them in bed and be ready to operate on Friday and get a good practice in," UH coach Benjy Taylor said.