As a player, Adam Jacobsen knew the Big West Conference inside and out.

Now he gets a chance to prove his worth there as a coach.

Jacobsen, a 13-year assistant at Pacific, is the first staff hire of new Hawaii men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot, sources say.

Former Saint Mary’s assistant Adam Caporn, who was on the Gaels’ staff simultaneously with Ganot, was previously expected to join Ganot’s UH staff, a source with knowledge of the situation said. But Caporn is no longer being mentioned as a possibility.

Ganot did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Jacobsen on Thursday. The hire is expected to be announced by UH on Friday.

When Jacobsen’s playing career at Pacific came to an end in 1998, the guard had hit more 3-pointers than anyone else in Big West history — 311. Though that mark has since been surpassed, he was also known for hard-nosed play and work ethic off the court. Longevity, too, as his 1,513 career points attest.

He latched onto the Tigers’ staff twice thereafter, sandwiched around a stint as a high school head coach. He was on board in 2013 when the Tigers transitioned both from the Big West to the West Coast Conference, and from retiring coach Bob Thomason to top assistant Ron Verlin.

Verlin made Jacobsen his associate head coach to coincide with the team’s move to its new, and arguably tougher, league home. Over the past two years, he served as recruiting coordinator as well as coordinator of the team’s offense, according to his team biography. He worked to develop the Tigers’ guards specifically.

In 2013-14, the Tigers were 18-16, 6-12 in WCC play. Last season, they went 12-19 and 4-14.

The father of three is expected to make the move to Honolulu from Stockton, Calif., in short order.

Ganot has two more full assistant positions to fill.