FULLERTON, CALIF. >> It was a throwback throwdown.

On a first-half play in a Feb. 20 game at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, Hawaii point guard Roderick Bobbitt lobbed the ball over the Anteaters’ defense. Mike Thomas had crept behind the D, saw the pass and elevated for it.

Aaron Valdes was in the neighborhood too, and got off on the next floor. The result was predictable, but no less remarkable: Valdes crushed the dunk over Thomas. It was one of a few momentum-turning plays made by Valdes in the critical 75-71 road victory.

“Mike (said) it was the first time he’d been dunked on by his own teammate,” Valdes said a few weeks later, chuckling at the memory. “I thought it was someone on Irvine, so I kind of mean mugged him a little bit.”

“He actually stared me down after the play,” Thomas said. “He thought I was a defender, and then realized I was on his team. We laughed about it.”

The ’Bow-on-‘Bow crime called to mind Valdes’ first year as a Rainbow Warrior in 2012, when he showed up as an unknown walk-on. He redshirted that season, allowing him to focus his raw but considerable energy on tip-dunking over teammates in practice. Often.

It’s been a journey in between for the junior from Whittier, Calif., who was named a Big West second-team player on Monday after helping UH (24-5, 13-3 BWC) to a shared regular-season title and the conference’s top seed in the Big West tournament, which starts Thursday. UH opens against eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton.

The recognition came despite the 6-foot-5 wing missing a significant chunk of the conference season with a toe injury, and another league game with an illness. Valdes is second on the team averaging 14.4 points per game. That’s up from 13.7 last year and 3.2 the season before that.

“He’s a great story … (and) not done writing his book,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “He’s got chapters to add.”

The coach resents when Valdes is described as an athlete first and basketball player second. That label might have been accurate once, but no longer.

“Here’s a guy who was under-recruited, and became a walk-on,” Ganot said. “A walk-on who became a scholarship player, who became a rotation player … and then became a second-team all-league player.”

Valdes stands at 910 points in his three seasons of action. It’s not impossible that he could join UH’s 1,000-point club by season’s end, considering UH has already qualified for the NIT at a minimum.

He’s primarily a scorer, but he has other abilities waiting to be tapped. Against Howard on Jan. 2, he became the third player in recorded UH history to net a triple double — 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. He’s hit five 3s in a game twice this season.

Valdes chalks up his progression to maturation. His time in Manoa included two coaching changes and an NCAA sideshow.

“Just the way I play, I think, is different,” he said. “I was just an athlete coming in. Just wanted to dunk the ball on everybody, and that’s what people knew me for. But I feel like now I’ve added more things to my game, made myself a little better player and my coaches have helped make me a better person and player on and off the court.”

Valdes excelled in hoops and water polo at academically prestigious La Serna High … but not in academics. That was the reason he was under-recruited; focusing was difficult for him in some subjects.

Those struggles in the classroom eventually became an enduring motivation. Valdes recalls some teachers and counselors were skeptical of his chances of making a Division I team and prepared to send him through junior college.

“I think I still carry it with me,” said Valdes, who was eligible for UH after a year at La Jolla Prep. “I think there’s still people that doubt me and my ability, what I can do. It motivates me, pushes me to do better.”

The youngest of four competitive brothers is on track to graduate in the summer in family resources, a much-anticipated moment for the Valdes family.

“Aside from basketball and everything, him achieving what he has, it’s awesome, but more important for us is knowing he’ll get a degree from Hawaii,” said his father, Andy. “That’s our proudest (moment), what we’re most excited about.”

At some point, Valdes would like to turn his past struggles into an example. He envisions working as a teacher for middle-school children who need extra attention.

First, he fully intends to become a professional basketball player — the question is when. He’s part of UH’s junior class of uncertainty with the NCAA’s 2016-17 postseason ban still on the table.

He also can play for another D-I school next season without having to sit out games, but Andy Valdes said his son has not entertained that option.

So Aaron, stay or pro?

“I’m still not sure yet,” he said Monday. “There’s still the sanctions, and if we get the (appealed) sanctions off of us, there’s still that possibility. So, I’m still trying to see my options and what happens the rest of this year, who’s coming back for our team too. I’m still looking at it, but right now I’m just trying to stay focused because we’re so close to getting to the NCAA Tournament.”

During Tuesday’s practice at Fullerton College, Valdes levitated for a two-handed putback stuff, his head roughly at rim level. Teammates like Dyrbe Enos fled the scene, smiling, not wanting to be Thomas’ed.

It was one lighthearted moment among many in the career of the Man of Many Bounces, who will be missed for more than just highlights when he decides to go.

Valdes imagined what his future self, a pro baller or teacher, will recall looking back at his days throwing down (dunks) and raising up (a title) on the island.

“How much fun it was to play with these guys, to be on the same court as them,” he said. “To be called one of the best teams Hawaii’s had is an honor, especially with this group. … We’re still not done, we still have a lot to write. So hopefully we can keep it going.”

Jankovic picks up another award

A day after being named Big West Player of the Year, Hawaii forward Stefan Jankovic picked up some more hardware on Tuesday.

He was named to the US Basketball Writers Association Region IX team, one of 10 players among all teams in California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona and Alaska.

Per UH, he is the first Rainbow Warrior to make that list since Michael Kuebler in 2004, and is the fifth ‘Bow, period.

The others were Carl English (2002-03), Predrag Savovic (2001-02) and Anthony Carter (1996-97).

Oregon coach Dillon Brooks was the region player of the year and UO’s Dana Altman is the region coach of the year.

The USBWA and NABC regional awards are different. Isaac Fotu last made the NABC list, a second-team region pick in 2013-14.

UH relocated from Long Beach to the Fullerton Marriott this morning, on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The Rainbow Warriors held a practice at nearby Fullerton Junior College.

From Monday, here were a couple shots of UH’s practice at Long Beach State’s Pyramid. It was admittedly a little strange to be there right after Saturday’s 74-72 loss to LBSU.