Meet and greet time

Hawaii basketball banquets are no longer confined to the postseason.

That’s fitting, perhaps, since UH is still presently banned from any postseason participation. UH coach Eran Ganot announced Monday the formation of the UH Men’s Basketball Tipoff Event to be held Oct. 20 on the Stan Sheriff Center court.

This banquet, starting at 5:30 p.m., doubles as a meet-and-greet for the fans and the many new Rainbow Warriors and also serves as a fundraiser for the program. (There is a silent auction.) Drinks, dinner and a program progress from there. Tickets are $100 per person. Per UH, proceeds of the event go toward player nutrition.

Saint Mary’s, Ganot’s previous program, does something similar during preseason. He considers adding this (there also is expected to be a standard Green & White scrimmage the public can watch Oct. 22) part of a long-term plan of building up Manoa basketball.

“We had a big-time end-of-the-year banquet to celebrate the end of the season,” Ganot said. “Programs I’ve been in, people are equally excited about an event to embark the start of the season. And so I think No. 1, it’s something we’ll do on an annual basis, and something we’ll continue to build off of. But the reception to it thus far has been terrific. We’re expecting 400 to 500 people.”

That would constitute a pretty good turnout, especially for a first-time event. The banquet tables are going to be on the floor of the central area inside the SSC.

Scott Robbs will MC. There will be a “panel” Q&A discussion portion with players and members of the coaching staff.

“The fans are such a big part of this program, to be able to meet the new guys … there’s like four guys that the fans know already,” third-year sophomore Brocke Stepteau said. “So something like that at the beginning of the year is definitely helpful for the players to get to know the fans and how passionate they are about the team, and also for the fans to get to know the players as well for the upcoming season.”

Ganot said it will be different in tone than a postseason banquet, which is generally focused on team awards and recapping highlights of the previous months.

“We like to mix things up,” he said. “There’s so many new faces.”

This doesn’t preclude the team from doing a postseason banquet.

“Every year we’ll do a tipoff event followed by an end-of-the-year banquet,” Ganot said. “I think it’s something that’s necessary.”

To sign up for it, contact Bobbie Omoto at bomoto@hawaii.edu or 956-6501.

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UH got in its first full practice in the Stan Sheriff Center on Monday, after the first two were in the steamy confines of Gym 2.

“We definitely made progress since the first practice,” Stepteau said. “Our first practice Friday wasn’t very good. We followed up with a pretty good practice Saturday, and the coaches felt like we had our best practice so far today. This is going in the right direction, but obviously this is going to be a transition period with so many new guys learning their roles and the plays. … But as long as we’re moving in the right direction, that’s all we can ask for.”

It probably was not an accident that it went off smoother than the other practices. Gym 2, which has climate control issues — by that I mean there is no climate control — has been sweltering, even when there’s been a pleasant breeze right outside.

“Definitely, (the SSC) helps mentally at least,” Stepteau said. “You like the feel, you feel a little bit better when you’re in the gym you play in, AC and all that stuff. So that helps, definitely.”

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Here’s an interesting read/video by CBC News on Carl Englishd, who’s not done playing pro just yet at 35.