Hawaii’s Eran Ganot is the basketball coach who also is a competitor.

He watches video deep into the night.

“With the advance in technology, you can watch more film,” he said. “You feel like the ability to keep learning is limitless.”

At his bedside is a yellow legal pad to scribble ideas that interrupt his REM sleep.

“The game’s changing,” Ganot said. “You still have to come into every day with the attacking mindset to grow and get better, to work. The grinders gain confidence from working.”

The meshing of sports and drive come from growing up as a twin, from shooting at a Fisher Price hoop when he was a toddler, from playing tackle basketball in the New Jersey snow, from being the captain of his college team, from loving the game.

“When basketball is played right, there’s a beauty to it,” Ganot said. “You’re sharing the ball. The team’s helping each other on defense. Since I was 5 years old, I was a part of the team. I love the sound of the swish, the sound of a crowd, the sound of tense moments when teams come together.”

Ganot is the guy who started in the mail room, ascended to the corner office, and still distributes the mail. When he broke into coaching, one of his duties was to fill the ice tubs. He owned the job. Now in his 19th season of coaching, his sixth as UH’s head coach, the 40-year-old Ganot still insists on unloading the bags off the bus. When his assistants try to help, Ganot will shoo them away, saying, “let me do my thing.” He often will help tidy the lower campus.

“Nobody is above that,” Ganot said. “Crush the responsibility, and the reward is more responsibility. Maybe when you get to the position as head coach that you’ve done every single responsibility possible, now you can help the younger guys do it. Also, you keep your humility.”

Ganot is the teacher and the student. He still keeps in touch with his youth, high school and college coaches. He said he adheres to former UH coach Riley Wallace’s advice: absorb knowledge from coaches, cohorts and players while maintaining your personality. “You learn from everybody,” Ganot said. “That growth mindset is important. I’m still learning.”

Ganot said he and his staff try to provide guidance and guidelines. “If your work ethic isn’t there or your attitude is not great (and) you’re not about the team, you deserve to get scolded,” Ganot said. “Never demeaned. We demand, we don’t demean. Other than that, these guys are trying to do right. I don’t need to remind them of that when they’re already trying to do right.”

He also has embraced a line from one of his players.

“If you’re not happy, you’re not going to be good at anything,” Ganot said. “You’re going to be happy if you do what you love, with people you love, where you love. I’ve got to remind myself of that. I have to remind our guys of that.”