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With some creativity and a lot of persistence, the University of Hawaii basketball team has completed its nonconference schedule for the 2020-21 season.
The schedule includes opening on Nov. 11 against Washington State in a reformatted Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic, hosting North Carolina on Nov. 20, and traveling to the Bay Area for a game against Santa Clara on Dec. 2. The ’Bows also are the host for the eight-team Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in December.
“We’re really excited about the schedule,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “We know the challenging component to it, but also the opportunity for our guys to test themselves early, throw them in the fire.”
The ’Bows have seven newcomers.
Not including the Diamond Head Classic, the ’Bows sought six nonconference opponents to complement an expanded Big West schedule. Cal State Bakersfield and UC San Diego join the Big West this coming academic year, increasing each team’s league schedule to 20 games. Jesse Nakanishi, UH’s director of basketball operations, took the lead as the scheduling coordinator.
“I think scheduling is one of the really important tasks we have, and it’s also one of the most time consuming, with little results,” Ganot said. “It’s very tedious. And it wears you down a little bit. I appreciate our staff, with Jesse Nakanishi leading the way. He’s our scheduling coordinator. There are 350 schools. We make sure we talk to all of them, other than the guys we’re playing or in our league. He just keeps hitting them up, hitting them up.”
In recent years, the Rainbow Classic has been a three-day, round robin involving four teams. This year, it will be a three-team round robin stretched over five days. UH and Washington State will play on Nov. 11, WSU and San Diego on Nov. 13, and UH and San Diego on Nov. 15.
“With the change in the landscaping of scheduling, we determined we had to be a little more flexible to get the opponents that we would like to have,” Ganot said. “I appreciate everyone’s willingness to do that. Over the years, you have to adjust to the times a little bit. We put the schedule with that in mind, and everybody worked together to get to this point.”
There are ties with some of the matchups. Ganot and Washington State coach Kyle Smith were assistants on the Saint Mary’s staff. UH assistant coach Chris Gerlufsen was an assistant at San Diego. Two members of the past season’s USD team — guard Noel Coleman and post James Jean-Marie — have transferred to UH. Nakanishi was Hawaii Pacific’s associate head coach. The ’Bows are scheduled to face the Division II Sharks on Nov. 25.
“One of the things we did this year was not mess around too much with waiting and waiting and waiting (for opponents),” Ganot said. “We ended up finishing the schedule early.”
The ’Bows completed the schedules for the previous two seasons on Aug. 15, 2018, and Aug. 9, 2019, respectively.
2020-21 UH BASKEBALL NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Nov. 11 Washington State*
Nov. 15 San Diego*
Nov. 20 North Carolina
Nov. 25 Hawaii Pacific
Dec. 2 At Santa Clara
Dec. 13 Alcorn State
Dec. 22 Diamond Head Classic+
Dec. 23 Diamond Head Classic+
Dec. 25 Diamond Head Classic+
* Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic
+ DHC field includes Arizona State, Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State, Seattle, Temple, Western Michigan and Hawaii. Bracket to be determined.
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