Ferd Lewis: Another big one gets away from UH hoops program

The University of Hawaii didn’t get 6-foot, 9-inch basketball recruit Lok Wur, but it might add another chapter to the near-legendary compendium of the big ones who went elsewhere.

From the time he tweeted out Tuesday that UH, along with Oregon, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Creighton, was one of his final five culled from more than 30 scholarship-in-hand suitors, you knew the stars would have to align for him to end up in Manoa. Especially since the Ducks’ coach, Dana Altman, had hometown connections.

Wur announced his commitment to Oregon on Twitter upon completion of a weekend recruiting trip to Eugene, Ore., on Sunday.

But, then, Rainbow Warriors basketball fans have proven to be a particularly optimistic lot over the past four decades, no matter how daunting the odds. Hope enduring that one of these days a genuine, game-changing big man will land in their midst, regardless of the reach.

The odds say UH has to score a coup eventually, right?

The ’Bows have managed to recruit some talented guards, but that franchise, program-turning big man has been as elusive as Bigfoot the past 45 years, contributing to the hunger for one.

The names Richard Washington, Bobby Lee Hurt, Ricky Tunstall and Luc Longley being among the pro-bound players who fans — and coaches — have included in their prayers.

Part of what made Wur, a high school senior averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game in an Omaha suburb, so intriguing is that he is athletic, has room for growth, handles the ball well and can shoot from outside.

So, when Wur achieved 11th-hour eligibility and professed an interest in UH to Nebraska media, hope was rekindled.

Until Sunday, when it was doused, again.

The most heralded big man who got away was Washington, a high school All-American in Portland, Ore., who was torn between UH and UCLA in 1973 before helping the Bruins to John Wooden’s last championship, an NCAA Tournament MVP and a six-year NBA career.

Years later Washington told the Portland Tribune, “I wanted to get out of state, just for a change, to experience something new. The other school I thought seriously about was Hawaii. I visited there as a sophomore and I loved the weather, the tropical feel of it.”

Washington said, “I ended up at UCLA because people said (the Bruins) could offer all the same things, but they also had John Wooden and the tradition.”

Then, in 1981 there was the 6-foot, 9-inch Hurt, who allegedly called UH coaches and said he wanted to come to Hawaii over Maryland and Alabama and a hundred others.

Riley Wallace, a UH assistant, later told the Washington Post, “Bobby Lee told us over the phone in that last weekend (heading into National Letter of Intent day) that he wanted to come to Hawaii. He told me to go to (his high school coach’s) office and he would sign. So, we left the letter at his office since we had no visits left. Bobby Lee went in to sign and the coach told him he (Hurt) hadn’t put in enough thought.”

So, Wallace said, “he went in to sign with Hawaii and came out thinking Alabama.” Hurt would later be drafted by Golden State and spend nine seasons in Europe.

Tunstall, a 6-foot, 11-inch center from the College of Southern Idaho, liked UH on his visit but not the cockroaches. He ended up at Youngstown State before becoming a 1984 selection of the New York Knicks.

UH heavily sold Longley’s mom on her son coming to Manoa. What ended up happening, however, was that the mother came to UH as a grad student and Longley went to New Mexico on the way to becoming a first-round draft pick in 1991 and an 11-year NBA career.

Meanwhile, UH’s search continues.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.