Princeton of the Ivy League will replace Utah State of the Mountain West Conference in the 2017 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic basketball tournament, event runner ESPN Events announced.
The stated reason was a scheduling conflict for USU, a former WAC opponent of Hawaii.
DHC officials were happy to make the swap; while the Aggies struggled to a 14-17 record in 2016-17, the Tigers went 23-7. Princeton — which participated in the Pearl Harbor Invitational on Dec. 6-7 and beat UH 75-62 at Bloch Arena — enjoyed a 19-game winning streak to sweep the Ivy regular season as well as the inaugural four-team Ivy tournament.
“We are very happy to add the Ivy League champions to the 2017 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic,” DHC executive director Daryl Garvin said. “Princeton has a long history of success on the basketball court and are a welcome addition to an exciting field this December.”
Princeton raises the 2017 NCAA Tournament teams in the upcoming field to five, joining Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Miami and USC. The 12th-seeded Tigers were edged 60-58 by fifth-seeded Notre Dame in the NCAA first round.
The other teams in the DHC field are UH, Davidson and Akron.
Bracket pairings for the DHC — running Dec. 22, 23 and 25 — will be announced at a later time.
Walk-on Garrett to transfer
Hawaii basketball guard Brian Garrett is looking to transfer to another school for his senior season.
Garrett, a 6-foot-4 junior college transfer who walked on in Manoa, appeared sparingly in six games and scored a total of five points in 2016-17. He said he’s looking to play somewhere he will get an opportunity.
“Not sure where yet, but I’m reaching out and talking to a lot of schools right now, weighing my options,” he messaged the Star-Advertiser this week. “We’ll see what happens.”
