UH hoops forward Thomas to redshirt
BRUCE ASATO / FEB. 2016
Hawaii’s Mike Thomas tries to slam but is fouled by UC Irvine’s Jonathan Galloway in the second half of the UC Irvine vs University of Hawaii men’s basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center, Thursday, February 11, 2016.
Hawaii basketball forward Mike Thomas will redshirt the coming season after undergoing surgery on his wrist, UH announced today.
Thomas, a 6-foot-7 senior, was to be the only returnee in the Rainbow Warriors’ starting lineup in 2016-17 and is the team’s only veteran. UH is coming off a record 28-6 season but has dealt with several early player departures in the face of a postseason ban for the coming year.
Now with Thomas’ situation, second-year coach Eran Ganot will have five brand-new starters come November. Thomas’ final season is bumped back to 2017-18 as he deals with a recovery timetable of four to six months; by redshirting he is unable to play in games even were he to recover by midseason.
“While I’m disappointed I won’t be playing this year, I’m excited about this year’s team and look forward to supporting my teammates in every way I can,” Thomas said in a UH release. “We have a lot of newcomers and they know they can count on me to be there for them. My goal is to work hard, attack rehab and return to the court at full strength next season.”
Thomas averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last season. He was the team’s most effective offensive rebounder and most versatile defender, as well as a locker room leader who garnered the nickname “The Rock” for his steadiness. He was one of two players to start all 34 games for the team which notched the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory.
“Mike embodies all the qualities you look for in a student-athlete and he’s been a terrific ambassador for our program and the University,” Ganot said in UH’s release. “He’ll tackle this setback with the same focus and determination that makes him such a special person. Though we’ll miss Mike’s production on the court this year, his presence will continue to be invaluable for our program moving forward.”
Sources said he suffered the injury to his right (non-shooting) wrist while making an appearance with National Fire Protection in the Hawaii College Basketball League in Manoa last month. The severity of the injury was not immediately apparent and was only revealed recently.
UH’s only returning rotation player now is guard Sheriff Drammeh. Drammeh averaged 1.7 points in 13.4 minutes per game as a true freshman last year.
The Rainbows have so far added nine newcomers to the roster, including seven scholarship players.
17 responses to “UH hoops forward Thomas to redshirt”
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Expect this team to be a disappointment compared to the last year which thrived on the recruiting of the previous two coaches and Benji-ball. Without any Benji-ball players left the offense and the defense will be boring and slow. Still no Center, Ganot can’t recruit, and the Israel guy is slow and can’t jump. Save your money on an extension and wait to see how this team does because you might be just increasing your buy-out otherwise.
Yeah…because we should all listen to a loser troll on what to do with our money and support for the Warriors. Get a life.
Still touting Benji. He was a very good interim Coach. He was offered the job, but didn’t take it. Time to move on. Ganot brought steadiness to the team and now lets wait and see how his recruits turn out.
You and Benji can both take a hike!
Have a sorry self hating life, don’t you?
Rebuilding year coming up. Sucks after such a successful year and NCAA Tournament appearance. We shall see what happens with the program.
not a bad move in anticipation of the postseason ban.
Bingo! and not only that. He has the operation to repair and heal his wrist. And the BIGGIE here if I was Thomas who I read is an excellent student in academics. He could work on his degree, graduate and transfer back home to the school of his choice that’d take him for a year! It is a smart move on Thomas’s part! Get the degree, move back home and with that he’s ready to play his last year of College Basketball.
this is no surprise whatsoever. there was talk about this right after the season ended. this will prime Thomas for a senior season, possible post season, and a great chance of playing at the next level.
Providing, of course, that he does choose to return since he’s probably on track to graduate in another semester or two.
All this knock on Ganot … Jesus Christ the guy won the BW Conference Title. Hate to see what the comments would be like if he didn’t … toughest job for a new coach is to get the players from the previous regime to “buy into” the new system. Ganot did that and that to me is “coaching” … To all the naysayers give the “BW Coach of the Year” a break and let’s see what he can do with his players in year 2.
I agree with you 100%, even believe it’s harder to coach players you didn’t pick & teach them a new system. I believe in Ganot & have been supporting the team since the Fab 5 days.
Brah, the players had the talent. Gib recruited them and got them into UH one way or another. Didn’t matter what of the 3 coaches game they played! The majority of the wins was because of the players!
“Pocho” … “one way or another” … if you haven’t heard the NCAA is about to drop a hammer on UH because of Gib’s cheating … I wouldn’t want talent that way … you forget one thing … “The majority of the wins was because of the players” … yes they played within the system set by Eran Ganot … what would you be saying now if they ended up in the middle of the BW ??? Either way you have a NEGATIVE ATTITIUDE; they won the BW and that’s not good enough … if they lost you’d be bashing Coach Ganot too …
use your common sense, if Gib didn’t cheat in getting the players do you really think UHbb have all those wins even before Ganot time? The players were winning even before Ganot got there. lol
I’d agree with what you said but the facts are the players were winning and Gib recruited them. Give Ganot credit for bringing in Sai though, he deserves that because Sai fit in the role he was given.
It remains to be seen if Ganot can recruit but at least he can coach. He did a great job this past season with the game plans and in game decision making. Lets just hope he can get some talented guys to come play for him. GO BOWS!!!