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University of Hawaii point guard Kelsie Imai remembered studying basketball videos when she was summoned to assistant coach Khalilah Mitchell’s office the past December.
Mitchell then handed Imai a license to thrill.
“She said, ‘you realize that you’re starting now,’” recalled Imai, a freshman. “And I was like, ‘OK, I’d better get my stuff together.”
Faced with the do-or-sigh options, Imai has emerged as the choreographer on offense and pest on defense. Imai will lead the Rainbow Wahine in tonight’s opener of a back-to-back road games against UC Irvine in the Bren Center.
“When she was handed the reins of this team, sure, there was a moment of, ‘oh, my gosh, how am I going to do this?” head coach Laura Beeman said. “But there’s also that part, ‘Kelsie, this is what you do.’ She has a competitive spirit that, as a coach, you love to see. It might not be what she can do physically or mentally. It’s just the grit she has.”
That drive was apparent when Imai was leading Waiakea High. “Her ability to break people down one-on-one, her court vision, those are the things I immediately noticed,” Beeman said. “And that’s what drew me back to watching her play additional games on the circuit.”
The UH coaches focused on Imai’s body language in different situations. “What is she going to do when they’re up?” Beeman said. “What is she going to do when they’re down? Does she continue to play or does she have a switch that she flips off and on? As coaches, that’s something we see a lot. You see a young lady, when they’re up, they start to cruise. And when they’re down, they quit. Kelsie just played (hard).”
With Nae Nae Calhoun suffering from a season-ending injury and Teionni McDaniel opting out, Beeman did not hesitate in turning to Imai. In six games, Imai is averaging 5.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
Imai will face UCI guard Kayla Williams, who scored 32 points against Cal Poly this past Saturday. Beeman said Imai will be ready for the challenge.
“I think Kelsie has the individual pride where she doesn’t want someone to get the best of her,” Beeman said. “But Kelsie is going to play the way Kelsie plays regardless.”
Imai said: “I’m just here to play. So, whoever comes my way, I’m just, ‘OK, OK, let’s do this.’”
Imai said she has received support from older teammates who encourage open communication.
“They want everybody to talk,” Imai said. “And they told us, ‘it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or senior, you need to talk and communicate.’ I think that’s a really big factor that helps this team out. Nobody treats each other like, ‘oh, you’re a freshman’ or ‘you’re a senior.’”
This is the Wahine’s second road trip of the season. Their first ended in consecutive losses to CSU Bakersfield. But the Wahine bounced back to sweep Cal State Fullerton this past weekend. The Wahine, who had endured a 26-day break between games this year, appear to have regained their cardiovascular fitness.
“Now it’s more getting used to the repetitive banging more than it is the cardiovascular,” Beeman said. “That’s something people don’t take into consideration. At times, you get hit on a screen, or setting a screen, or diving on the floor, or just the contact that happens.”
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