FULLERTON, CALIF. >> When Hawaii last made the NCAA Tournament, the Rainbow Warriors’ backcourt of Quincy Smith and Roderick Bobbitt were Bay Area youngsters just beginning to tap into their future abilities.
Predrag Savovic, Carl English and the UH basketball team of 2001-02 were so far off their radar they were, at best, a curiosity. At worst, completely unknown.
What Smith and Bobbitt knew of college basketball was shaded in blue and gold: the California Golden Bears, who happen to be UH’s opponent in the NCAA first round Friday in Spokane, Wash.
Smith’s face lit up immediately when the subject of Cal was broached after UH’s practice Monday in Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym.
“It was my favorite college basketball team. I’m from right in that area,” said Smith, of Antioch, a handful of miles east of Berkeley. “So, that’s just icing on the cake. Like I said, man, just making the Tournament my senior year, and then playing Cal, c’mon, I couldn’t even ask for a better storyline.”
Bobbitt, UH’s starting point guard from Oakland — right next to Berkeley — was a little less effusive of UH’s matchup.
“I didn’t follow them much, but I always knew about them,” Bobbitt said. “I played there (Cal’s Haas Pavilion) in high school, too.”
Bobbitt was a two-time league MVP coming out of Castro Valley High and went the junior college route to get to UH. The two-year Rainbow Warrior recently became the program’s career record holder in steals, adding to the single-season and game records he set as a junior. He’s also fourth in career assists at 356.
Being in the tournament matters much more than numbers to the usually stoic Bobbitt.
“It’s way different,” he said. “A new experience for some of us, most of us. It’ll be different to be playing instead of watching. Having people watching us will be cool.”
Smith, No. 2 in Big West steals behind Bobbitt, fought through a hip pointer during Saturday’s Big West title game against Long Beach State. He thanked team trainer Jay Goo for getting him ready to play a day after going out awkwardly in the semifinals against UC Santa Barbara.
As someone who missed his whole senior season at Deer Valley High School because of a rule on transfer players, there was no way Smith was missing the championship. He gutted out 29 minutes against the 49ers, notching five points and four assists while playing at what he estimated was “50 or 60 percent.”
He seemed in better shape Monday. After practice, he scrolled around a tournament bracket on his phone before zeroing in on the TBS-televised Hawaii-Cal matchup. UH (27-5) is the underdog as a 13 seed, while Cal (23-10) is a 4, the highest in Bears history.
He’d regularly watch Cal games on TV growing up.
“I’ve been to a few, and we used to play, they used to have a Martin Luther King Day tournament, so in high school we used to always go there and play,” Smith said. “I grew up watching them. I still follow their team today, so I know a lot of the guys that’s on their team. A couple of the guys are from the Bay Area that I know. So it should be real fun.”
Both UH guards played against Jabari Bird, a former McDonald’s All-American, now a Bears junior. Smith knows Ivan Rabb, an All-Pac-12 second-team big man, and one of two Cal players of the 2015 McDonald’s ranks and projected as an NBA lottery pick along with wing Jaylen Brown.
Between the draw and last week’s conference tournament play of Big West champion UH, people back in the Bay are feeling galvanized.
“So many calls, so many text messages,” Smith said. “Everybody’s looking for tickets to Spokane. Some family members say they’re going to drive — it’s like a 15-hour drive. Everybody there is just so excited, so happy for us.”
UH coach Eran Ganot also is well familiar with the Bears, having coached at neighboring Saint Mary’s in Moraga. Assistant coach John Montgomery spent three years as a full Cal assistant under his father, Mike, between 2011 and 2014.
The Bears have made the Big Dance 14 times since 1990, compared to four times for Hawaii, and own a national championship from back in 1959 with legendary coach Pete Newell.
“Cal was about 10 minutes down the road from Saint Mary’s,” Ganot said. “The Bay Area is a great place for sports in general, and obviously with the college teams as well. Obviously we got two guys there, very familiar with Cal. Like I said, (coach) Cuonzo (Martin) does a terrific job. It’s about playing a very good team in the NCAA Tournament. Once the ball’s tipped, everything else is out the window and we’re just focused on doing what we do.”
UH will practice again today in Fullerton, then fly up to chilly Spokane tonight.
UH releases ticket information
The UH athletic department estimates it has a few hundred tickets available in its allotment for the 8 a.m. game at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. It is giving H-Club members top priority on them at hawaiiathletics.com, then season ticket holders and finally the general public. Availability started Monday afternoon.
General tickets through the 14,000-seat venue were already sold out, but UH expects many will be available on the online secondary market on sites such as StubHub.
