CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / NOV. 2015
Hawaii’s Roderick Bobbitt drove past Nevada’s Tyron Criswell to beat the Wolf Pack 76-75 last year.
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As expected, the Hawaii basketball team’s Nov. 14 home date against Florida Atlantic is part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
The network announced the full marathon field on Thursday. The Rainbow Warriors’ 11:15 p.m. Stan Sheriff Center game against the Owls of Conference USA is fourth in the lineup, on ESPN2. Like the last several years, that game doubles as the finale of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.
It will be the ninth straight time UH has played a late-night home game in the nine-year marathon event. UH is 5-3 in those games.
It brings UH’s national TV appearance count to six in 2016-17, combined with three games of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and two games of the Pearl Harbor Invitational.
“It’s always great to be involved in this first-class event,” coach Eran Ganot said of the marathon in a UH release. “The late tip provides a unique atmosphere for our fans and players and has produced some of our school’s more memorable moments. Coming off a season in which we had a dozen national and regional TV appearances, this continues our emphasis on branding the program.”
Last year, UH beat Nevada 76-75 in the marathon on Roderick Bobbitt’s buzzer-beating layup.
Valdes, Smith sign pro deals in Europe
Former Rainbow Warriors Aaron Valdes and Quincy Smith have reached agreements with European clubs to begin their pro careers.
Valdes signed with Dzukija of Lithuania for the 2016-17 season, the club announced this week. Smith reached an agreement with Telstar Hesperange of Luxembourg, Smith’s agent announced on Twitter.
Meanwhile, ex-UH point guard Roderick Bobbitt and Croatian club GKK Sibenik “mutually agreed to part ways” after just a few days on the job, according to Eurobasket.com.