Hawaii 3-point sharpshooter Eddie Stansberry is selected the BWC Player of the Week

For Hawaii basketball player Eddie Stansberry, good things happen in threes.

He wears a gold medallion “3” that represents his jersey number. “It’s kind of my lucky number,” said Stansberry, a senior guard.

He shares the same full name as his father and grandfather.

“I’m supposed to be Eddie III, but the ‘third’ is not on my birth certificate,” he said. “My grandpa, my dad and me, we’re all Eddie, not Edward, like a lot of people think. It’s just Eddie.”

And the Rainbow Warriors’ best 3-point shooter has been named the Big West’s Player of the Week. It was, fittingly, the third time Stansberry won the award, a school record.

“Personally, I’d rather hear we’re the Big West champions,” Stansberry said after learning of the honor. “Individual awards are great, and I do enjoy them, but I don’t harp on them too much. I’m more focused on our team getting wins and heading in the right direction.”

This past Saturday, Stansberry hit five 3s and scored 22 points to help rally the ’Bows from a 17-point deficit to an 80-75 victory over Cal State Northridge. Stansberry played the entire game for the fifth time this season. In 16 of the ’Bows’ 20 games, Stansberry has logged at least 35 minutes.

“We talk about work ethic, and Eddie is always early and late in the gym,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “The offseason, he put in the work to getting into as good a shape as any guy we’ve had.”

Following the 2018-19 season, his first at UH after two years at City College of San Francisco, Stansberry continued working on his shooting — the NCAA moved back the 3-point arc — and his conditioning. During the summer, he ran in his family’s neighborhood in Burlington, Calif. “It was sunny and hot,” he said, “good outdoor running.”

From the start of the ’Bows’ fall training, Stansberry said, “every day, I try to run 1 or 2 miles, just to keep my cardio right. Sometimes I like to get on a track, sometimes a treadmill. … I keep telling myself I want my body to be in the best shape. If you’re in good shape, you’re setting yourself up for all the other things.”

Last season, Stansberry was mostly a catch-and-release scorer. This season, he has expanded his game to drives, cuts and static-cling defense. Last weekend, Stansberry drew the assignment of covering CSUN guard Terrell Gomez, who was averaging 20.7 points and connecting on 42.1% of his 3s.

“We always have a good idea where we want matchups,” Ganot said. “But it’s always nice when guys want the matchups. Certainly, Eddie wanted that matchup, and that’s where it starts.”

Stansberry studied video of Gomez, concluding that the best defense begins at mid-court.

“He’s real ball dominant,” Stansberry said. “Having the ball in his hands is when he’s at his best. My job was to keep it out of his hands. I know that a player like that is comfortable shooting at any level. He can shoot from deep. He can shoot mid-range. You have to make him feel uncomfortable. My job was to run him off the 3 because he’s shooting ridiculously good off the 3-point line.”

Stansberry honed his strategy in practices, often going against freshman Jessiya Villa.

“Jessiya is very quick,” Stansberry said. “He can make tough shots. He was going at me all week. I have to compliment him. He got me ready for the game.”

In the first half, Gomez was held to four points, with his lone basket coming on a transition jumper. With UH holding a one-point lead, Stansberry tracked Gomez from the top of the key, through the lane, and to the right corner. With Stansberry’s left arm out-stretched and his right hand a deterrent on the drive, Gomez shot an airball. Gomez finished with 13 points on 3-for-8 shooting.

“He’s been doing that all year,” Ganot said. “I think it came to the forefront because of the magnitude of the game against a 21-points-a-game shooter.”