An improbable story took a rewarding turn with Hawaii’s Junior Madut’s selection as the Big West’s Player of the Week for men’s basketball.

Madut, a 6-foot-6 junior, powered the Rainbow Warriors to victories over Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara — and into first place in the Big West. The ’Bows have won seven in a row.

“It means a lot,” Madut said. “I’m definitely very grateful. I’m just happy we got two great wins this weekend. I couldn’t have got that honor without my teammates.”

Madut also expressed gratitude for the path that led him to the Manoa campus.

“Me living in Hawaii wasn’t even imaginable for me as a young person,” Madut said. “It’s definitely a blessing. Every day I’m blessed to even wake up and be here and have this environment around me. It’s definitely crazy.”

Madut was born in South Sudan, and moved with his family to Australia when he was 6. Later, he attended DME Academy, a prep school in Daytona Beach, Fla., before enrolling at Eastern Florida State College. During the 2019 NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., Madut caught the attention of the UH coaches.

“We kind of looked around and said, ‘Who’s this guy?’” UH coach Eran Ganot recalled. “He was somewhat under-recruited. It was, OK, I want to watch him more. OK, I want to see him in person. We went to his school, watched him work out, met with him, visited with him. We gravitate toward guys with great stories. He’s had a tough upbringing.”

But Ganot said Madut has been an easy fit in Hawaii. “His love for the game is very clear,” Ganot said. “The guys love him. He’s a great teammate. You can look at him on the bench and he really supports his teammates. Guys root for him.”

Because of a delay in processing his transfer, Madut did not enroll at UH until January 2020. He redshirted that semester. The ’Bows played a league-only regular season in 2020-21. This year, with Juan Munoz suffering a season-ending knee injury, Madut added a role as point guard to his repertoire. He also plays off guard and the wing. UH’s system, which often employs two point guards, gives Madut the freedom to facilitate, attack off ball screens, or sling away from behind the 3-point line. Madut also is a pesky defender who derailed UCSB’s attempt at a game-tying 3 on Saturday. Madut also protected the lane with a foul on a Gaucho attempting to dunk.

“He gave us a presence of a guy who’s not going to let anything easy go by,” Ganot said, “and I think that helped the rest of the group.”

Madut said he is comfortable playing all three guard spots, as well as becoming a more demonstrative leader. “I’m just trying to do what’s asked of me,” Madut said.

Madut, who has started all 16 games, is connecting on 47.4% from the field and 41.5% on 3s — up from 39% and 29.6% last year.

“We challenged him to be more efficient,” Ganot said. “He’s shooting his best percentages across the board.”

Ganot added: “He’s continuing to write his story.”