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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eran Ganot talks to the referee about a foul call in the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game between the Hawaii Warriors and Cal Poly Mustangs at the Stan Sheriff Center in Manoa on Wednesday, January 6, 2016.
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The honors continue to roll in for Hawaii basketball’s rookie head coach.
Eran Ganot was named the winner of the Joe B. Hall Award, given to the top first-year coach in Division I, at the CollegeInsider.com postseason banquet in Houston on Monday.
“Obviously very appreciative and humbled by this incredible honor named after a true legend in our game,” Ganot messaged the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “As we all know, individual awards are a direct result of team success. This is a credit to our players, staff, university and to our state. Great to hear people talking about Hawaii!”
Ganot previously was named Big West Coach of the Year and won the Red Auerbach College Coach of the Year award from the Jewish Coaches Association.
Hall took over at Kentucky following legendary coach Adolph Rupp in 1972 and guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Ganot beat out nine other finalists for the Hall honor — including Chris Beard at Arkansas-Little Rock — after coaching UH to a 28-6 record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory.
The 34-year-old Ganot, a former assistant at Saint Mary’s and UH, also was nominated for CollegeInsider.com’s Jim Phelan Award (top overall D-I coach) and Hugh Durham Award (top mid-major coach), but those went to Wisconsin’s Greg Gard and Yale’s James Jones, respectively, at the banquet.
UH’s own postseason banquet is set for May 4 at a site to be announced.
Ganot and the Rainbow Warriors still await stay-or-go decisions from juniors Aaron Valdes, Mike Thomas and Stefan Jovanovic. Stefan Jankovic announced his decision to turn pro last week.
