Eran Ganot was introduced as the 21st coach in Hawaii men’s basketball history on Thursday morning at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Ganot, 33, takes over for interim coach Benjy Taylor, who led the team to a 22-13 record once Gib Arnold was fired just before the start of the 2014-15 season. It is the first Division I head coaching job for the New Jersey native.

“This is overwhelming,” Ganot said. “At the end of the day, I might show some nerves, and I might cry, I don’t care. That’s who I am. It’s not often you fulfill your dream, and today I fulfilled my dream.”

Sources indicated he has a three-year contract. His salary was not disclosed.

Ganot, a former UH assistant coach, arrived from Saint Mary’s, where he assisted for the last five seasons. He was part of a run of eight straight NCAA or NIT tournament appearances for the Gaels. Saint Mary’s went 21-10 in the recently completed season, finishing runner-up in the West Coast Conference standings and qualifying for the NIT.

He spoke of his love for UH athletics which began when he was greeted at the airport by then-coach Riley Wallace in 2006 as the Rainbow Warriors’ new director of basketball operations. He was promoted to full assistant when Bob Nash took over the program and remained for Nash’s three seasons.

“When people ask me ‘dream job,’ … I’ve always wanted to run a program where I’ve coached or played,” said Ganot, a former player at Division III Swarthmore. “As that became clear, I wanted to be the coach at Hawaii. I wanted this job.

“People ask me why is this so important to you? Number one, it’s home, and it’s family. … I feel very comfortable here. People here took me in and treated me like their own. I’ve always wanted to coach, and I wanted to live in Hawaii, and be around you guys. And so to get that opportunity today, I’m very excited and very appreciative.”

He was selected by incoming athletic director David Matlin and a four-person search advisory committee, although it was Manoa chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman who introduced Ganot.

“He was very consistent,” Matlin said of Ganot’s words in the job interview process and his press conference. “His interview he did with us, he’s just real. He is who he is. So yeah, it’s very reflective.”

Bley-Vroman thanked Taylor and the Rainbows players for the season they accomplished, reaching the Big West tournament championship game and surprising many along the way even as the program dealt with the fallout of an NCAA investigation.

Ganot met with the Rainbow Warriors players prior to his introduction.

“I was real. I talked to them like I talked to you,” Ganot said. “There ain’t no surprises. I congratulated them on a great season, and I told them how special it is to be at Hawaii.

“I wanted to come in open-minded and flexible, and I hoped they would too,” he added.

UH, which has yet to resolve the NCAA’s allegations against the program from the Arnold era, sought a candidate with an unblemished image.

“We were blessed with excellent candidates, but one person clearly rose to the top,” Bley-Vroman said. “He possesses all the qualities we are looking for in our next head basketball coach. Outstanding basketball knowledge, proven coaching skills and recruiting success. A strong commitment to student-athlete welfare. And an unwavering commitment to academics and to NCAA compliance.”

In the 2013-14 season at SMC, Ganot served as acting coach for Randy Bennett for five games, going 3-2. Bennett was suspended by the NCAA for an infraction by a former assistant coach which occurred prior to Ganot’s arrival in Moraga, Calif.

“It helped a lot because you have to make in-game decisions,” Ganot said of that two-week stretch, in which he had the reins of the program and no contact with Bennett. “It was an invaluable experience for me.”

Ganot thanked numerous people, including his family, Bley-Vroman, Matlin, the search committee, his Saint Mary’s players, and his mentors Bennett, Wallace and Nash.