HENDERSON, NEV. >> Combo guard Noel Coleman is not on the University of Hawaii road trip, but he has reached a significant marker in his basketball journey.
Coleman, a third-year sophomore from Belgium, was named to the All-Big West Conference’s second team. Coleman is in Honolulu recovering from surgery for a season-ending orbital fracture suffered against UC Irvine on Feb. 19.
Forward Jerome Desrosiers, who transferred from Princeton last summer, received honorable mention.
“We’re going to celebrate all our guys for all they’ve done, especially under these circumstances over the course of the year,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
Ganot said Coleman, Desrosiers and even guard Junior Madut could have been recognized as most-improved candidates.
In 2020-21, his first season at UH after transferring from the University of San Diego, Coleman averaged 5.8 points on 38.6% shooting, including 39.1% from behind the 3-point arc. This season, Coleman averaged 14.8 points on 44% shooting, including 44.1% on 3s. He also hit 81.3% of his free throws.
“I was hoping Noel would get honored,” Ganot said. “I was hoping he was not penalized for missing the last, really, 4 1/2 games, (that were) out of his control. He’d certainly like to be out there, and he was playing at an all-conference level. It’s good to see that.”
Desrosiers averaged 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in three seasons at Princeton. The Ivy League’s 2020-21 season was canceled because of the pandemic. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Desrosiers transferred to UH with the intent of being used as a stretch four. Desrosiers opened the season as an energizing reserve, then moved into the starting role at the four. Because of injuries and safety-health protocols, Desrosiers often played the five.
Ganot said the Big West has “so many good four men, and (Desrosiers has) covered them all. And he’s covered five men on a team that was top-two in every defensive statistical category.”
Desrosiers is averaging 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Ganot also praised Madut, 6-10 wing Kamaka Hepa, centers Bernardo da Silva and Mate Colina, the guards and reserves. “The way we see it,” Ganot said, “they’re all-conference to us.”
The ’Bows arrived in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon ahead of their game against UC Riverside in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament. The tournament, whose winner earns a berth in the NCAA Tournament, is played at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.
Two times this year, they raced to the airport after a Saturday afternoon road game to catch a Honolulu-bound flight. The ’Bows ended the regular season with a road victory against Cal State Northridge. This time, they remained in Southern California on Sunday.
“We were able to relax a little bit,” Ganot said. “We can have a normal Sunday off where they’re not stressed about travel or something. … We had a good Sunday together. And the guys were able to do their own thing and recharge.”
