Hawaii men’s basketball gets commitment from 6-foot-6 guard
THE DESERT SUN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Mater Dei High School’s Scotty Belnap of California attempts a dunk during the Desert Holiday Classic at Rancho Mirage High School in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Dec. 29.
A sharp-shooting, 6-foot-6 guard has made a 2026 commitment to the University of Hawaii basketball team.
Scotty Belnap, who graduated from Mater Dei High (Santa Ana, Calif.) on June 1, is leaving Sunday for a two-year church mission to Argentina. He will join the Rainbow Warriors as a preferred walk-on in June 2026. Last week, he de-committed on a pledge to Utah Tech.
“The (UH) coaches are great people,” said Belnap, who has known head coach Eran Ganot and assistant coach Gibson Johnson since the eighth grade. “They’re all about family. That’s what I’m about, too. The whole team is like a family.”
Belnap said he hit 40% of his 3s for Mater Dei, which went 26-2 during the 2023-24 regular season. He also has been a member of nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook’s WhyNot team that competes on the AAU circuit.
Belnap is best known for his leaping ability. As a 6-foot eighth grader in 2020, he dunked for the first time in a game. Videos of his dunks in high school, particularly off a between-the-legs move, have drawn widespread interest on social media.
Belnap also competed in the high jump this past spring, placing second in his Orange County section.
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Belnap said it was a long-time goal to serve a church mission. His father had served a church mission in South Korea.
“It’s hard to find certain schools that will wait for you,” Belnap said. “I was really blessed Hawaii was able to support me with that. I wanted to dedicate two years of my life to God, which is the real reason we’re here. It feels like a lot. But in your whole lifetime, it’s not that much time.”
