Perhaps fittingly, two players who came into the Hawaii basketball program together announced their departure from Manoa as one.
Former high school teammates Stefan Jovanovic and Niko Filipovich are the latest Rainbow Warriors to move on, further dismantling UH’s Big West championship roster as an NCAA postseason ban looms over next season.
Jovanovic, UH’s 6-foot-11 backup center for the past three seasons, is transferring to Loyola Marymount with a mind for making it back to the NCAA Tournament. Filipovich, a 6-foot reserve guard, is calling it a basketball career and will finish off his undergraduate degree at a school to be determined near his home in the Los Angeles area.
They announced their plans within a few hours of each other Saturday. Both offered words of support for their teammates and coaches in departing coming off a 28-6 season and NCAA second-round appearance.
“These are tough decisions,” UH coach Eran Ganot said in a message. “We know how much these guys appreciate Hawaii and their experience here.”
Ganot now has just two returning scholarship athletes who played this season: forward Mike Thomas and guard Sheriff Drammeh. Forward Jack Purchase redshirted during 2015-16.
Jovanovic and Filipovich are the third and fourth players to depart the ’Bows with eligibility remaining at season’s end; top scorers Stefan Jankovic and Aaron Valdes recently announced they will turn professional. UH also lost guard Isaac Fleming late in the year.
“All these guys will be remembered fondly for their efforts,” Ganot said.
Filipovich and Jovanovic committed to UH’s 2013 class and former coach Gib Arnold out of powerhouse Bishop Montgomery High in Southern California.
They were among the ’Bows who endured the program’s turmoil and came out smiling. Jovanovic, a Serbia native, regretted he wouldn’t play a seventh straight season with his more outgoing friend Filipovich, but had to do what he felt was best for him.
“Best fans and all that,” said Jovanovic of UH. “This school, I may not graduate here, but I will always see this school as my home, as my alma mater. I’ll see it like that. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll again end up in Hawaii.”
Jovanovic averaged 4.9 points and 4.0 rebounds as a junior, appearing off the bench in all 34 games. As a true center, a rarity in today’s game, he totaled 380 points, 164 rebounds and 65 blocks, most of which came over the last two seasons.
LMU of the West Coast Conference went 14-17 last season, and placed seventh in the conference. Mike Dunlap’s team lost in the WCC quarterfinals to Saint Mary’s.
“It’s at least an opportunity, you know?” Jovanovic said. “I can’t really say anything else until I see the team. But, yeah, it’s not going to be like the team here that was so special. This team was made two years ago, we’ve been together through a lot of stuff and everything, but it’s just how it is.”
Filipovich, a third-year sophomore, played sparingly behind Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith the past two seasons. On the court, he was best known for his active defense. Off it, he was a big part of the “Hawaii 5-O” bench mob’s rise to popularity.
He totaled 44 points in his UH career, the biggest of which came on a layup during some key minutes he supplied against Long Beach State in the Big West tournament title game.
“To go out like what we did right now, it’s the cherry on top of the cake,” Filipovich said. “It’s the perfect ending to a Cinderella story. … It’s like in the movies. You’re going to the NCAA Tournament with your brothers. That’s only something you’d see in a movie or something like that. It’s kind of crazy.”
He acknowledged the inconsistent role of a bench player was emotionally draining, and was ready to go even with potential playing time opening up next season.
“You realize that maybe you’re meant for something more than this, you’re meant to do something else,” Filipovich said. “Maybe it’s involving basketball, maybe it’s involving something else. You choose the path that you think is best for you and your family, and I thought this path was right for me.”
