In the real-estate business, the mantra is: location, location, location.

University of Hawaii basketball player Casdon Jardine, who is pursuing a master’s degree in finance with the long-term goal of being involved in real-estate investment, has been to many locations. He grew up in Idaho, where he was a standout wing on the state championship team; served a two-year church mission in Brazil, and then was a member of basketball teams at College of Southern Idaho, Boise State, and Utah Valley. This summer, Jardine joined the Rainbow Warriors as a graduate transfer.

Since Eran Ganot was named head coach in 2015, the ’Bows have had success with one-and-aloha senior transfers. Arizona State transfer Sai Tummala delivered outside scoring to the team that advanced to the NCAA’s round of 32 in 2016. Noah Allen, who transferred from UCLA, was the ’Bows’ top player during the 2016-17 season. Guard Ahmed Ali impressed before withdrawing from school last October because of a health condition. Jardine and forward James Jean-Marie, who transferred from San Diego, will spend their final college season with the ’Bows.

Jardine presents the ’Bows with a player who fills the boxes statistically (prorated 14.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per 40 minutes last season) and intangibly (unselfishness, hustle, floor burns).

At 6 feet 7, he has an outside touch (39% shooting on 3s at UVU) and paint-thinning toughness. He also brings vocal contributions to a help defense that relies on communication.

Jardine also speaks freely of his basketball journey. After his mission, he went to College of Southern Idaho, which is located near his home in Twin Falls. “I matured a lot and got a lot stronger,” Jardine said of his season in junior college. “It was a great blessing to go to that JUCO. I loved JUCO life.”

He received several Division I offers before deciding on Boise State. But he conceded he was not a fit with the Broncos. “I wasn’t going to thrive there, and I wasn’t going to be happy,” Jardine said. “I decided to transfer to Utah Valley University. That’s where I was the last two seasons.”

In accordance with NCAA transfer rules, Jardine was required to redshirt during the 2018-2019 academic year. For redshirts, there is the grind of training and practicing without the reward of playing in games. “It just turns into a mental battle,” Jardine said. “But looking back, that redshirt year was huge for me. It was a year I was really able to put the work in, improve things I needed to improve on, better my shooting, I was able to get stronger and more athletic, and really get the two years of (not playing basketball in) Brazil out of me. I think the biggest thing from the redshirt year I was able to get my confidence back.”

Following the redshirt year, Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope accepted the coaching job at Brigham Young, taking along his two assistants. “It was another learning moment in college basketball where I felt control was taken away from me,” Jardine said.

It was during the past season when Jardine considered entering the transfer portal. He did so after the season ended. He said he was not “set on” leaving UVU before entering the portal, “but when I did, it was pretty crazy.” He received widespread interest from Division I schools. Using his Boise State experience as a gauge, Jardine said, “I knew exactly what to look for, what questions to ask. I was clear on what I knew, what I wanted. It ended up being a great fit here.”

It was a unanimous choice. His wife Savvy also approved of the move.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people who probably are like, ‘oh, he hops around a lot. He can’t stay in one place,’” Jardine said. “But I feel if you look at my stats from last year, you would see I’m not a selfish player. I’m not someone who only cares about myself. I stick to the things I do. And I hope that people would have a conversation with me and any of those doubts they’d be having that I’d like to clear up for them.”

Disagreement in a promised role at Boise and the coaching change at Utah Valley contributed to those departures.

Jardine appears to have a found a fit at UH. He met his teammates during Zoom meetings this summer and then bonded during on-campus workouts. He said the program’s goals also were factors in his decision to join the ’Bows.

Ganot “has a reputation of winning in Hawaii,” Jardine said. “That was important to me. This is my last year of college basketball. I want to win and to make an impact and do something special. Coach Ganot and the rest of the coaching staff were great, and they explained to me how that would happen. It was really cool to hear their plan, to hear they had a strategy and a plan in place, and all those things were going to happen instead of just talking about it.”