Hawaii men’s basketball maintains online connection

This summer, the Hawaii basketball team has met weekly to watch presentations, demonstrations and guest speakers.

All of that from the comfort of their homes — in Australia, Northern California, Utah, Kapolei — through video sessions.

In usual times, the Rainbow Warriors would work out on their own from the end of the spring semester through June, then participate in organized team workouts and meetings during summer school’s second session. But these are not usual times, and most of the ’Bows will not be on Oahu when the second session begins on Monday. Instead, they will continue to participate in Zoom sessions and video chats.

Initial sessions featured updates and “where everybody has the floor and they talk about how they’re doing,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “We’ve progressed to weekly guest speakers who touch on different subjects.”

The offseason program will accelerate as the ’Bows target Aug. 1 as the reporting date. In the three weeks leading to Aug. 1, Zoom and video sessions will “start to be more attention to X-and-O stuff,” Ganot said.

Beginning Aug. 1, the ’Bows will have up to eight hours each week for meetings, video reviews and on-court workouts.

“With all the information we currently have, we felt it was best to bring them back in early August, then get going from there,” Ganot said. “End of the day, we’re going to maximize what we’re allowed to do to the best of our abilities and to continue to make sure we’re getting better and coming together as a group within the constraints we have.”

Of the 15 players on the roster, seven are international students. Ganot does not anticipate any of the international players having difficulty with Hawaii’s screening process. Mate Colina, Biwali Bayles, Manel Ayol and Junior Madut are residents of Australia. James Jean-Marie is from Canada. Bernardo da Silva and Noel Coleman grew up in Brazil and Belgium, respectively, but both are spending the summer on the mainland.

“It’s a little bit of a puzzle, but I do know we’re on top of things to the best we can,” Ganot said. “Our guys are in a good place right now, which we’ve been able to check on often. … They’ve all found good routines where they’re at.”