In one move, Kameron Ng fulfilled a childhood dream and accepted a basketball challenge.
Ng of St. Francis School will join the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team. He said he received his acceptance letter from UH last week.
“It was exciting to finally make a decision where I’m playing next year,” said Ng, who was the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s All-State player of the year for the 2018-19 season. “For it to be at home, in front of my friends and family, it’s even more special. I’m excited.”
Ng had been exploring the options of enrolling at Loyola Marymount, Portland or a prep academy. Instead, he decided to accept an offer to join the Rainbow Warriors as a walk-on. “UH is the best spot for me,” Ng said.
He said he does not mind the challenge of working his way to eventually being considered for a scholarship.
“Everything that got me to this point I had to earn,” Ng said. “It’s nothing new to me. I’m ready to get to work.”
Ng is a 5-foot-10 guard who can shoot from all ranges, relishes passing and recovers quicly from ailments. He missed six games this year while recovering from an ankle injury. But he was back on the court in three weeks — half of the projected rehabilitation period — and averaged more than 25 points while playing in 31 of the Saints’ 36 games.
Ng said he began playing the sport when he was 3 or 4 years old. “I was always hanging around my dad, who played basketball,” Ng said. “Just watching that, I fell in love with basketball at a young age.”
Kekoa Ng set up a 6-foot plastic basketball post in the driveway for his 4-year-old son to practice shooting. “As I got older, I had a bigger one in my backyard,” Kameron Ng said. “I was always practicing, visualizing myself on the bigger stage, playing the game of basketball on the highest levels.”
Ng said he had two role models: his father and former NBA all-star Allen Iverson. Ng remembered when he finally beat his father in a basketball competition. After that, “I knew the sky was the limit for me because he was the guy I looked up to,” Ng said. “He’s my dad. Most kids look up to their parents.”
Ng said he tries to emulate Iverson’s energy and passion for the sport. “He was a smaller point guard in the NBA,” Ng said of the 6-foot Iverson. “But he loved the game. He has things I’d like to put into my game.”
Ng said he and his younger brother, Kordel — who has a year left before graduating and must find a new school with St. Francis’ closure — grew up following the ’Bows, watching them on television and attending games in the Stan Sheriff Center. This summer, Ng will become the fifth Hawaii high school graduate on the ’Bows’ roster. Samuta Avea and Jessiya Villa are Kahuku graduates, Zoar Nedd is from Kapolei, and Huthifah Abdeljawad attended McKinley.
