It’s an annual rite of the Manoa fall: dismissal of the Big West men’s basketball preseason poll.
Good, bad or anywhere in between, UH coach Eran Ganot and his players are conditioned to shun the word on the street. So it was Thursday, when the Rainbow Warriors were picked to finish fifth in 2017-18 by media around the league. The team greeted the news with — what else? — a collective shrug.
And yet, Ganot has a pretty good memory of UH’s history in the polling during his three-year tenure.
“There’s always ways you can use it as extra motivation, not your sole source of motivation,” he said. “Our first year (2015-16), we were picked third and finished first. Last year we were picked eighth and were fifth. It just has no bearing on how we move forward, but I know we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
The Rainbows (14-16, 8-8 BWC in 2016-17) were one of six teams to receive first-place votes this year, with two. UC Irvine received 14 of 26 first-place votes as the favorite, despite losing its offensive nucleus. Defending tournament champion UC Davis was selected second with seven first-place votes.
No ’Bows were named to the six-player preseason all-conference team. UH forwards Mike Thomas, Gibson Johnson and Jack Purchase were nominated.
“We didn’t really talk about it as a team,” point guard Brocke Stepteau said. “Our coaches and team preaches we don’t really worry about that stuff. It’s definitely motivation for sure, because we finished fifth last year and we feel like we’re much better this year than last year. … That can’t be our only motivation. We’re still focused on the same things.”
Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State each received a top vote as the third and fourth overall picks, followed by UH and UC Santa Barbara, which also picked up a single first-place vote. Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside and Cal Poly are projected to bring up the rear.
The forward-heavy preseason team was: Chima Moneke of Davis; Temidayo Yussuf and Gabe Levin of LBSU; Tavrion Dawson of CSUN; Jackson Rowe of CSUF and guard Gabe Vincent of UCSB.
UH begins the season Nov. 10 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Rainbows host Hawaii Pacific in an exhibition at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday.
UH Australia-bound in 2018
Hawaii coach Eran Ganot broke some news himself at UH basketball’s Tip-off fundraiser event Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Warriors will take a tour to Australia in the summer of 2018, Ganot told the crowd of about 500.
Details must still be worked out, but the trip could take place in August, with four to six exhibition games against Australian professional teams in a few different cities.
The program’s only previous foreign tour was in 2011, to China and Japan under Gib Arnold.
“We’re in the initial stages,” Ganot told the Star-Advertiser after the event. “Obviously we gotta raise some money to do that. … If we’re going to be the program we want to be, there’s certain things we have to do, non-negotiable, and we’ve gotta fight tooth and nail to get it done.”
