UH basketball gets commitment from skilled 6-9 Aussie player

The University of Hawaii basketball team has secured a commitment from a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward from Australia.

Harry Rouhliadeff, a stretch four from Australia, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he will sign a letter of intent on April 13, the first day basketball prospects may put their commitments in writing.

“I had a real liking for the coaching staff,” Rouhliadeff said, “and they took a liking to me. They gravitated me toward school. They really got to know me.”

Rouhliadeff is an accurate outside shooter with a guard’s ball-handling dexterity. Rouhliadeff will enroll in UH this summer. His potential has drawn comparisons to UH co-captain Jerome Desrosiers and former ’Bow Jack Purchase.

In December, Rouhiliadeff graduated from Villanova College, a private high school in Coorparoo, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. He is an amateur player with the Southern Districts Spartans of Australia’s National Basketball League 1, a developmental league for the NBL. He also trains with NBL’s Brisbane Bullets.

“It was really good to learn from top athletes before I head over to college,” Rouhliadeff said. “It will really help me get experience.”

Rouhliadeff developed ball-handling skills as a 5-foot-11 player. Then in 2018, he grew 7 inches, to 6-foot-6. He continued growing and gaining strength, and now weighs 210 pounds on a 6-9 frame. “Those guard skills I was practicing definitely carried over,” he said.

His toughness in the post came from playing Australian rules football; his vertical jump and agility were honed in volleyball matches. He also smoothed his shooting, stretching his range to behind the 3-point arc.