Warriors rose above adversity

It had all the makings of a lost season.

Head coach fired just a handful of days before the first game. Star player departed amid a cloud of pending NCAA punishment. General weariness from intense scrutiny.

Yet somehow, against all odds, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors made it a season to remember.

Under interim coach Benjy Taylor, UH adopted a new, aggressive defensive identity and rallied in the face of frequent adversity to go 22-13 and make it to the Big West tournament championship game, where the Rainbows fell 67-58 against UC Irvine to end a surprising campaign.

UH would finish third nationally in steals (337) and steals per game (9.6). Along the way, the Rainbows stole the program record for swipes in a season — the previous mark was 293 back in 1980-81.

"We had a special year. … We accomplished a lot in four months," Taylor said. "It’s tough to watch TV right now because I feel like we should be there (in the NCAA Tournament). But the type of year we had this year is the type of year we should have with consistency, and we should play for Big West championships. And I think we got a group who can do that."

Though UH’s meager strength of schedule contributed to its non-participation in a postseason tournament (along with the university’s ongoing financial woes), 22 wins was the third-most for the program since the early 1970s. It was the most since the 2001-02 team went a program-record 27-6, and tied for the most of any Division I program not to make a postseason event (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT) this season.

Of course, all the commotion surrounding the program didn’t cease with the season’s conclusion. First, Taylor’s status as the team’s coach is still tenuous. UH has yet to post the permanent men’s basketball job, though that is expected soon along with the naming of the next athletic director. The new AD is expected to have his say in the naming of the UH coach, be it Taylor or another candidate.

Second, Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman and UH’s legal team has yet to respond to the NCAA’s notice of allegations of the investigation into the program. Self-sanctions are possible before the NCAA metes out its own punishment. A postseason ban has been mentioned as a possibility.

Taylor said he’s blocking those things out and focusing on three offseason areas for the team: academic follow-through, recruiting and scheduling.

"There’s a lot of stuff to do this spring, and I’m going about it like I’m the head coach and that’s the only thing I can do," Taylor said. "We had a successful year, mainly in part to me just doing that. Doing my job. And I’m going to continue doing my job like I did well throughout the year. And we’ll see what happens."

THE NCAA’s RECKONING built up like a shaken bottle of soda last offseason, centered on alleged actions taken by former coach Gib Arnold and assistant Brandyn Akana.

After UH fired Arnold "without cause" on Oct. 28 and all-conference forward Isaac Fotu — suspended indefinitely by UH — left a few days later to go pro, UH’s fifth-place prediction in the Big West preseason poll suddenly seemed a pipe dream.

Taylor, UH’s associate head coach, glumly called the program "a rudderless ship" and "a glass house" in a press conference just after Arnold’s firing, and voiced concern that several players would be lured to other programs amid all the uncertainty. It wasn’t even a given that Taylor would take over.

But besides Fotu, only one player, forward Sammis Reyes, ended up leaving from that point.

"I’m most proud of how they rallied around me, and I rallied around them," Taylor said.

Taylor chucked Arnold’s set-heavy system and introduced his own style. Players would play loose, free and with abandon, featuring an aggressive, pressing style, highlighted by a 1-2-2 trapping scheme in the open court. It worked, as UH harassed opponents to a 12-4 record in nonconference play, including head-turning victories over Pittsburgh, Nebraska and Colorado, and a near miss in overtime against nationally ranked Wichita State. Taylor garnered the Hugh Durham Award, given at midseason to the top mid-major coach.

In part because of some untimely injuries, UH struggled to find consistency during league play, going 8-8 in the Big West for the fifth seed in the conference tournament. But UH got healthy at the right time and had one more surprising run in store, defeating fourth-seeded Long Beach State in the first round and top-seeded UC Davis in the semifinals. Irvine, which went 3-0 against UH this season, proved too much to surmount in the title game, as UH lost an early lead in the final 10 minutes.

The NCAA Tournament hadn’t been that close since UH last made it to the Big Dance in 2002.

UH’s greatest asset, its loose style of play, occasionally had its drawbacks. UH went through stretches struggling to score in the halfcourt, and the Rainbows had lapses of discipline; technical fouls were an issue for a few players.

There was also an incident at the team hotel during UH’s trip to play at UC Riverside in January. UH was fined $500 to clean up two rooms of players for marijuana smoke. UH has not named the players involved.

But backed into a corner on several occasions, the Rainbows repeatedly fought their way to daylight.

Newcomer point guard Roderick Bobbitt was the face of UH’s new identity, using his own instincts and the license granted him by Taylor to record 100 steals, becoming just the fourth Big West player to reach that mark in a season. The Big West Defensive Player of the Year and all-league second-teamer shattered Tom Henderson’s season thefts record of 84 and became just the second UH player on record to notch a triple-double, in the process breaking UH’s single-game steals record by swiping 10.

Taylor has vowed to beef up UH’s scheduling in future seasons with the hope of vying for an NIT berth should UH not win it all in the Big West tourney. For the coming season, he said UH will play only one Division II opponent — Chaminade on a neighbor island. UH will host old WAC foe Nevada and play in a Las Vegas tournament against California and San Diego State.

Taylor also said he had a "strong" agreement to host national power North Carolina at the Stan Sheriff Center prior to the Tar Heels’ participation in the Maui Invitational in 2016.

UH’s core of players is young. Leading scorer and rebounder Aaron Valdes is a sophomore, as are swingman Negus Webster-Chan and forwards Stefan Jankovic, Stefan Jovanovic and Mike Thomas. Bobbitt and backup point guard Quincy Smith are juniors. Team sixth man Isaac Fleming is a freshman.

As of now, UH loses only senior Garrett Nevels and junior Brandon Jawato to graduation.

Taylor spoke often during the season of what his team could do if it stuck together for the long term. He said no one has told him of plans to leave, but he realizes he faces new challenges in that regard, as the all-consuming day-to-day season grind has ceased. External voices and agendas can take hold.

"I told them in the fall that whoever stays will win championships," Taylor said. "And that’s going to be my motto this spring. Whoever stays will win championships, and whoever don’t we wish the best of. We’ll figure it out with who’s here. But with that being said, I don’t want to lose anyone."

Since the season’s end, Taylor has been out on the recruiting trail. He will be at the Final Four in Indianapolis, where he will accept his Hugh Durham honor at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet on April 3.

No matter what happens from here, Taylor recorded the most wins for a first-year coach at UH in the all-college-opponent era.

"I just want to thank everyone, the administration and the fans," Taylor said. "It was a life-changing experience for me and a life-changing experience for the team. We all learned a lot about ourselves and what you can do through adversity. It’ll be something we’ll never forget. I don’t think the fans will ever forget it. We were just so, so close to doing something really, really special. It just goes to show you when everyone buys in, anything’s possible. … As a team, as a program we’re just thankful to everybody. We were counted out, but they didn’t give up on us. And that helped us become a team you can always remember."

2014-15 UH MEN’S BASKETBALL STAT LEADERS

>> PPG: Aaron Valdes, 13.7 (451 points)

>> RPG: Valdes, 5.3 (176 rebounds)

>> APG: Roderick Bobbitt, 5.3 (187 assists)

>> BPG: Stefan Jankovic, 1.4 (33 blocks)

>> SPG: Bobbitt, 2.9 (100 steals)

>> MPG: Bobbitt, 33.0 (1,155 minutes)

>> FG%: Jankovic, 49.1 (85-for-173)

>> FT%: Garrett Nevels, 77.1 (37-for-48)

>> 3FG%: Negus Webster-Chan, 41.0 (64-for-156)