A huge 2016 recruiting class just got larger for the Hawaii women’s basketball team.
UH officially announced the additions of three Division I transfers on Tuesday in Tia Kanoa, Rachel Odumu and Adrienne Darden, raising the newcomer count to a whopping 10 going into next season for the defending Big West champions.
Kanoa, a Kamehameha alumna, is a 5-foot-8 point guard coming in from Arizona State. Odumu is a 5-9 guard out of Monmouth. And Darden, a 6-4 center, arrived after spending a single semester at Delaware.
All three must sit out games as D-I transfers, per NCAA rules. Darden, however, sat out the spring semester and will be eligible in midseason of 2016-17. Kanoa and Odumu, both juniors, must sit out the entire season.
“They’re going to become our scout team,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “They’re going to become the young ladies that know the opponents’ offenses and defenses. They’re going to be the ones holding people accountable to work hard. They’re going to be holding themselves accountable to get better in this year off so next year they can step on the floor and not miss a beat.”
Kanoa, a Kauai native, was a UH recruiting target coming out of high school. She played sparingly for the Sun Devils, a Pac-12 power, because of injuries.
Odumu appeared in 46 games in two years for Monmouth, including 5.5 minutes per game in 22 contests in 2015-16. She has experience with the British Under-18 national team from 2014.
“What I think they bring is a level of maturity in our locker room that’s going to be much, much needed as we have some struggles this year because of our youth,” Beeman said.
Darden joined the UH program midway through last season, but didn’t get on the court for practices or games. She’ll be part of UH’s rebuilding project in the paint after the Wahine lost all of their post players from last season.