Alberts at the plate
Gonzaga transfer Bryan Alberts, a 6-foot-5 guard, is the latest player to be courted in person at the Manoa campus by Hawaii basketball this spring signing period.
Word is he arrived today.
Alberts is a tantalizing prospect, given he has size, played on a great team (the Bulldogs, in case you forgot, were the national runners-up) and is the rare graduate transfer to have two years of immediate eligibility.
Sounds like he has a planned visit to Long Beach State this weekend. Weber State of the Big Sky is also said to be in play.
Gonzaga announced itself that Alberts left its program in search of other Division I opportunities.
He started 10 games as a freshman in 2015-16 and played 11.5 minutes per game. He shot efficiently, with 40.4 percent shooting from 3.
His role reduced considerably on this past season’s 37-2 team, when All-American Nigel Williams-Goss dominated on-ball responsibilities. Alberts averaged just 5.9 minutes in 24 games and his shooting fell to 20.7 percent from deep (in limited attempts). However, his playmaking was on display — 24 assists against just four turnovers.
Alberts appeared briefly in two of the Zags’ NCAA Tournament games, wins over South Dakota State and Xavier.
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Long Beach Poly forward/center Myles Johnson told the Star-Advertiser on Monday that he plans to decide between Hawaii and Rutgers this weekend.
He visited the Manoa campus last weekend.
“It went well really liked the people there and the campus,” Johnson said in a message.
He should be visiting the Scarlet Knights’ New Jersey campus right now.
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Creighton transfer Kobe Paras, another player mentioned as receiving a Hawaii offer, is off the board to Cal State Northridge.
Update: UH didn’t extend Paras an offer, per a team source.
Paras, of the Philippines, has a massive Twitter following. He played some high school ball in Los Angeles and has some affinity for the place, which apparently helped seal the deal for the Matadors.
I am happy to say that I have verbally committed to play at Cal State University Northridge.
Can't wait to be back on the court playing! pic.twitter.com/VcQv4KJPRE
— Kobe | KoKo Wave (@_kokoparas) May 9, 2017
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Ferd Lewis wrote about future improvements to Gym 1 and Gym 2 in today’s print edition.
Although there was some earlier talk on work starting this year, the latest schedule has it slated for 2018.
Look for an APR story from Ferd in Thursday’s print. He gave a preview on Twitter.
Academic Progress Rate for UH hoops is 7 points above minimum & does NOT face post-season sanctions. Seventeen 17 schools do. #HawaiiMBB
— Ferd Lewis (@FerdLewis) May 10, 2017
Great opportunity to have immediate impact at Hawaii. Still the best option to continue education and play ball. Hope he joins the ohana. Go Bows!
Gonzaga transfer.
Oooh.
Last time I checked Gonzaga has had a pretty good program for quite a few years. National runner up last year. I sure wouldn’t turn up my nose at a Gonzaga transfer. They are a regular high seed in the tourney so must get some good players. Trust the staff. I can recall people not thinking much of Noah Allen and he turned out to be one of the best players in conference.
I pray we can land these two recruits because if we don’t start landing some quality recruits it is going to be a ruff stretch for UH BBall
Recent success of GT’s like Tummala and Allen would be a welcome to someone like Alberts. Hoping they can sign both, they would be beneficial right away.
Hopefully in making his decision Alberts will take into account that several of LBSU’s players who were expected to return from last year’s team elected instead to leave the program. And not just players who were struggling to find playing time, but some of the best players on the roster. Of course that means he would have playing time at LBSU but what does it say about the direction of the 49ers program? Does Alberts really want to play for a coach that, to pad his own salary with guarantee money, subjects his team to a killer out-of-conference road schedule that wears down players and destroys the win-loss record before the team even begins Big West play?
Alberts will get playing time at UH, but it will be because the team is rebuilding from NCAA sanctions that are now behind it. He will benefit from the presence of veteran and capable returning starters in the front court, he will play lots of games in a big home arena in front of sizable supporting crowds, and he will be guided by a coach who emphasizes player development both on and off the court and has won in both the Big West and NCAA tournaments.
If all that doesn’t make it a no-brainer Alberts should go talk to Noah Allen.
Amen, Mongoose! And who knows if coaches are looking at any foreign players. Drammeh and Flaisher were late summer additions. I guess recruiting is never really over
Hoosier
That ain’t saying much! We don’t need another Drammeh and Flashier. Those two were desparation grabs who wouldn’t crack the rotation on most D1 programs. We need a Bobbit and Jankovich types that can be difference makers. Problem is there ain’t that many left at this point. With the draw or Hawaii and all of the openings for playing time we have, Ganot should have not had as much trouble as he is having putting together a quality recruiting class. I will say one thing about Gib he could recruit. Ganot has him beat on the Xs and Os but not anywhere near the recruiter Gib was.
Omg! I thought the ghost of Gib was dead and gone. You do realize that because of Gib the UH had one scholarship until last week of the season. That does not leave a lot of time to start up your recruiting effort. Please no more about Gib. It was a revolving door while he was here in addition to the mess he got the school into. Leland Green, Drew Buggs, Sai Tummala, Noah Allen, Jack Purchase, Samura Avea (local recruit staying home) are quality players recruited by Ganot. He is as good if not better than Gib in recruiting and coaching. PLEASE no more about Gib Arnold.
9 . School got into the mess itself,
Ncaa took back the sanctions!!
And recruiting is looking bleak no one is as good as fotu, jankovic, bobbitt and valdes!
We need players the will maintain good grades and finish semesters or there will be no post season again in the future.
” that will maintain … “
Blackwell left LBSU because he wanted to play point guard, sounds familiar. Prince left because he would like to play away from the basket more. Jackson left because he wanted to play closer to his hometown.
Alberts could be an immediate starter for UH. I’ve seen him play in person and is very good. As far as academics go, he graduated in 3 years from Gonzaga and that is why he has 2 to play 2. He can handle the ball and shoot the 3. He would be a great get for the Bows
808 – you are right. NCAA amended sanctions. They did not say there were no violations nor did they void the restrictions on Gib Arnold. “School” got violations? Wow. Still drinking that Kool ade. And ” no one” good as Fotu, Jankovic, Babbitt, and Valdez? Uh, I would compare Noah Allen favorably and can we wait a little before we judge players now on roster? Decent players all but not like they are all starters in the NBA. Spain, Latvia, D league, whatever. Good for them they can earn a living playing ball but let’s not go overboard.
Hoosier
Stop already you making yourself look stupid. Don’t I bleed green and am as big a fan of UH as there is but I am also a realist. Ganot has not brought in a recruit worth a lick. I don’t count Grad transfers as recruits because they aren’t what you need to build successful programs year in and year out. I’m sorry Noah Allen is not as good as Janks, Bobbit, Fotu, or Valdez. He was a nice player but his numbers were inflated because our team was so poor offensively last year he was the only option. The only reson that team didn’t end up being one of the worst in UH history is because the Big West was very poor from top to bottom last season. Trust me I love coach Ganot and hope I am wrong and that he has some nice recruits up his sleeve, but the proof is in the pudding. He had a great season with all of Gibs recruits. He did not have a good season with his recruits and I gave him a pass because of the sanctions. But we have no post season ban this year and the signing period is almost over and we still have 4 scholarships to fill?? That is not a good sign. And please don’t mention Drew Buggs as a great recruit because he has yet to play a college game.
AllG- lol! U got me there! Graduate transfers don’t count as recruits. I forgot. I guess the kid from Gonzaga doesn’t count then. You know, the one you are praying we get. Too bad we had to lose Gib…..especially when he had that fantastic recruiting touch. I defer to your judgment cuz I only grew up around and played the game from small kid time. I will be quiet now and leave comments to more astute fans like yourself.
Hoosier like I said the more you talk the stupider you sound. Bryant is one of the rare graduate transfers who has 2 years of eligibility left, so he is basically like a JC recruit. So please keep telling everyone how good of recruits Drammeh and Flashier are. I’m sure they are more talented then you ever were but that ain’t saying much. I am in no means a fan of Gib, I just said he could recruit.
Hoosier- I love Gonzaga. My comment was meant to convey excitement.
I think Derrick Low would have had a better shot at the NBA if he chose the ‘Zags over Washington State.
Rod was a good point guard but he apparently didn’t finish his last semester, helping to lower the APR, apparently with Valdes. Maybe they had reasons, but Kentucky players leaving for the pros mostly finish up their semesters.
On the other hand, Janks, Quincy and Dyrbe graduated last year.
Bryant is a graduate transfer regardless of how many years he has to play. Ganot had his hands tied until NCAA lessen sanctions, timing wise, lots of recruits already committed. Bryant although at Gonzaga, he is not a proven player….however, Ganot has a way to get the most out of players as evident by the last two graduate transfers, hope he signs with us.
IMO the verdict is still out on Drammeh and Ido, sophomore and freshman respectively…. both young with accolades and have displayed flashes…
If I recall, didn’t the U of H play well in one of the pre-season tournaments against reputable teams? It is unfortunate when players do not graduate.
As a fan since the late 60’s, like the saying, “next man up.” Same goes with seasons, “look forward.”
Hoping for the best available, ’cause at the end of the day, it is, what it is.
Anyone who thinks Gib was great at anything is lacking critical thinking skills. Recruiting a few good players is worthless if you recruit a ton others who leave the program after one season. That’s not even talking about how bad of an X’s and O’s guy he was that he couldn’t crack the middle of the conference with Superior talent.
Glad to see a lot of interested folks about this topic. Anxiously awaiting more updates on recruiting. Thank you for keeping us posted Brian!
I have faith in Coach Ganot and staff that they will deliver.
Dribbling didn’t seem to be Noah Allen’s forte.
Did anybody else notice how many times he got the ball stripped while dribbling through traffic?
Just a step too slow to be a legitimate NBA prospect.
Without Noah, however, Hawaii wins ten games, at best.
I also wish he took more mid-range jumpers, but this applies to 90% of all college and NBA players.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK! COME IN CLOSER!!! STUDY BERNARD KING!!!!!
I gotta agree with AllG and even Artie Wilson has touched on this. Nobody can deny that he is good coach but coaching is only half the game or not even that in college. Recruiting is the life blood of a successful program and I’m sorry but Ganot has yet to prove he can land the type of recruits we need to dominate the Big West as we should.
” On the surface, the strategy is pretty simple: shooting 33.3 percent from 3 is the same as shooting 50 percent from 2, so why not fire as many of those suckers as possible? ”
http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2017-02-21/breaking-down-3-point-shooting-scoring-boom-college
Yes, Islandman, I hear this argument from my cousin en route to UH sporting events.
I’m just the hugest Westbrook fan and the criticism he receives on social media drives me crazy.
From an aesthetic standpoint, it’s just not very pretty watching all these attempted threes fall from the waistside.
I like that Sarah Toeaina knows her limitations and chooses to shoot 12-18 ft. jumper.
Well, lets put it this way.
Is it just me or does anybody else shriek like a banshee whenever Sheriff Drammeh launches a three?
But to be fair, he had some nice shooting nights on the road. Fans, less obsessive ones who don’t watch webcasts, don’t realize this.
He was a far superior road player.
I feel like this coaching staff is doing its best to recruit. People forget even the previous regime recruited some busts as we
Dillon Biggs
Gerry Blakes,
Hauns Brereton well maybe not hauns he was actually not bad
DeShawn Mitchell
Ronnie Stevens,
Shaquille Stokes,
Manroop Clair,
Caleb Dressler,
Orel Lev I didn’t even add his first year with Trevor wiseman Bobby miles etc.
Lets seehow Ganot does in the coming seasons, unless he picks up Alberts and more recruits of that calibre it’s looking like more middle of the pack finishes in the big west, and first round exits in big west tournaments ,
nothing different than Arnold.
I don’t count that first year as most of that success was due to Arnold recruits, and lets face it even Arnold would have won a lot with those players as upperclassmen.
Ganot is targeting quality recruits, especially for the guard corp. If and when couple of them sign, who knows, we may be running a 3 guard offense and being a hold lot quicker on defense. Hoping for the best…Go Warriors..
ℳƔℒΣƧ ℑ∅ℌℕ$ΩΠ @MylestheMonster
Truly blessed to say that I’ve committed to Rutgers University ????⚔️ #KnightAnd
30. Damn not good
Ditto. Tough to swallow
30. Rutgers? Seriously? Yeah, sure, it’s the Big 10 but it’s the absolute dregs of the Big 10. Rutgers has finished in the conference cellar for three straight seasons, hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1991, plays in a smaller arena than UH’s (capacity 8,000) and draws fewer fans than UH (4,600 per game). New Brunswick is one of the least appealing places in New Jersey; its only attraction is its proximity to New York, and coming from Long Beach, Johnson is going to experience huge culture shock there. Plus being on the east coast he’ll rarely if ever get to play in front of friends and family. Academically the school is solid but not great despite whatever propaganda they laid on the kid (“Third best undergraduate engineering program in the greater New York area” … okay.) Good luck to Johnson, I just hope he truly realizes what he’s getting himself into.
Check out Rutgers roster. They are loaded up with two 7 footers, 2 6′ 9”, and a few more front court players. I don’t think Johnson will see much playing time. Too bad.
Let’s see how Johnson likes those East Coast winters!!
Looks like Yuba JC Freshman PG Jaaron Stallworth, will be on the Island for his Official Visit this week.
29.Doing it’s best is obviously not working.
You forgot that amongst all those busts were players who came in and had great careers, Stanhardinger, thomas, jankovic, valdez, and so forth.
Meanwhile in the Ganot era, just as many busts( Canda, Owies, Lewis didn’t even last a year)
and not nearly as many great signings..Graduate transfers weren’t a thing back in 2012 so those do not count and here we are two days before signing period ends and zilch signins, meanwhile the rest of the big west is having no problems signing quality players.
Looks like Matt Owies is transferring to Seattle U.