’Bows drop LVI games for welfare of players

The Hawaii men’s basketball team is withdrawing from the 2015 Las Vegas Invitational in order to beef up its home schedule and reduce missed class time for its players.

Athletic director David Matlin said canceling the LVI appearance would allow the Rainbow Warriors to schedule two additional home games, pick up a stand-alone “payday game” on the road and save three days of missed class time. “(This was) a decision in favor of our student-athlete welfare,” Matlin said.

First-year UH head coach Eran Ganot was on the same page as Matlin.

“We would like to avoid missing class time when we can,” he said, “and avoid having a seven-game-in-15-day stretch. It’s not ideal to play on (both) Thanksgiving Day and on Christmas Day.”

Ganot said he is trying to be mindful of the demand on his players leading up to final exams in early December and wants the nonconference schedule to be as spread out as possible.

“If you’re playing three Rainbow (Classic) games and then four Vegas games and then three Diamond Head (Classic) games, all in a short window, you’re obviously going to have big gaps,” Ganot said. “It’s best to have more balance there.”

The four-game event spans eight days in three cities around Thanksgiving week in November.

UH was scheduled to play San Diego State and California on the road and two other opponents, from among Liberty, Sam Houston State and Bethune-Cookman, in neutral site games at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena. Former coach Benjy Taylor made the arrangements last season.

Replacement games have yet to be announced.

Matlin said “Financially, we are showing, approximately, a $30,000 positive swing by canceling this tourney over a two-year period.”

Under terms of the contract, UH was to have received $85,000 to play in the tournament. The buyout fee was listed at $90,000, plus a $30,000 penalty for late cancellation.

The Star-Advertiser’s Ferd Lewis contributed to this report.