SECOND OF TWO PARTS
There’s a package of talent at the Hawaii basketball wing position. Just keep in mind that it’s marked “handle with care” and “some assembly required.”
UH thinks it has a good thing going at small forward, just in a different form than its all-conference plug-and-play studs of the past two years, Noah Allen (15.7 ppg in 2016-17) and Aaron Valdes (14.1 in 2015-16).
The gloves are definitely on in 2017-18.
“You’re constantly building them up, giving them confidence,” said assistant coach John Montgomery, who works with the wings. “Some of the things you don’t know is normal right now, it’s OK, just continue to get better every day. Some of that stuff is our conversation. So yeah, it’s definitely different when you have a younger group.”
There are a pair of lengthy freshmen in Samuta Avea and Justin Hemsley, a junior-college transfer in Brandon Thomas and a scout team mainstay in fourth-year junior Zach Buscher.
Avea, a 6-foot-6 state hoops champion out of Kahuku, was UH’s first signee from a Hawaii high school since Bobby Nash in 2003. He’s so far shown the most promise of the group with his all-around athleticism, rebounding and hustle to go with a surprising 3-point shot. It’s allowed him to crack the rotation.
“That (was) kind of a knock of his, that he wasn’t a great shooter and (just) a really good athlete,” Montgomery said. “Now, we can count on Samuta to shoot the 3 and make some shots. It’s just him figuring out the speed of the game and how hard he has to play and the spots he needs to be in.”
He’s been a wide-eyed but rapt student over the preseason. Sometimes he’d sidle up to an experienced ’Bow for pointers.
“All the little things,” Avea said of D-I challenges. “Being in certain positions, having your hand up on every single closeout. Tracing the ball. A lot of little things that you don’t really repeat as much in high school that you really have to pay attention to in college.”
Thomas, the younger brother of senior forward Mike Thomas, hit 72 3-pointers at a 41 percent clip in his lone season at Riverside Community College. His outside shot has waxed and waned over the preseason, but he’ll be asked to make a couple per game, likely off the bench to begin the season.
Hemsley, at a lanky 6-5, might still be growing, having just turned 18. His energy is consistent, but the rest of his game is raw. His shot is a work in progress after an overhaul coming out of Damien (Calif.) High. The team might elect to redshirt him.
Buscher, a Kailua native, is UH’s scout team veteran who knows the positioning in any drill. It’s gotten him into a game before and might again.
