Coaches vs. Cancer; Recruiting; Armed Forces roundup

An eventful week of hoops is well underway at the Manoa lower campus.

Apologies for no blog entries as of late, hoops diehards. Been pretty tied up with preparing content for the print edition. I’ll try to make it up to you some right here with a jumbo blog blowout.

First, Eran Ganot’s Coaches vs. Cancer dinner fundraiser (Nov. 17, 5 p.m.) at Murphy’s Bar and Grill got shored up Wednesday with the news that North Carolina’s Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is confirmed to appear. He was previously a maybe, as it’s tough for coaches to break away the day before a game. UH and UNC play next Friday, Nov. 18, before the Tar Heels head over to Maui. The fundraiser is $100 per person.

Ganot’s been talking about establishing his program as a part of Coaches vs. Cancer pretty much since he got the UH job.

“It’s something we’re all looking forward to and are excited about,” he said after Wednesday’s practice in Gym 2. “Pretty special.

“(UH regent) Jeff Portnoy’s done a great job … in terms of promoting the event. Don Murphy’s stepped up to provide the food, at a great spot. He’s been such a great supporter of us in the past. Coach Williams is confirmed. He’s working on his practice schedule to when he can get there, the timing. It’s a great cause and it’s kind of a launch. That’s how we’re looking at it. We’re announcing our partnership with Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society with a Hawaii chapter. … We’re going to announce a couple of initiatives at the event as well.”

Ganot was asked tongue-in-cheek about using the event to get some intel on the Heels. (After all, Hawaii will need all the help it can get.)

“I’m just going to ask him to speak for a while, take his time there,” he replied, smiling. “Spend as much time as he can at the event, and hopefully pick his brain, see if I can get him to slip up on some things. … I can’t thank him enough for making the time. It’s obviously a tough situation, the day before, playing in a game. We’re both finding some time to get over there and speak, say hello to the guests that are going to be there, and then get back to our prep.”

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Part of coaches’ prep this time of year is, of course, in recruiting. That’s been something of a shelved topic of late, with the ongoing NCAA situation and UH attempting to field a competitive team with this year’s group in the face of those disadvantages.

The first day of the fall (early) signing period was today. So far, nothing to report on UH’s end.

As things stand, UH has but one scholarship to award for next season (Noah Allen’s spot). The count could change, of course, for any number of reasons. UH could lose someone early, or get scholarships awarded back by the NCAA.

Wednesday was the first open practice to the media since the exhibition against BYU-Hawaii; three consecutive sessions were closed, an unusual occurrence at UH.

Ganot spoke to the status of UH recruiting in general terms today afterward.

“I think it’s been pretty good,” he said. “As always we’re very direct and up front to the recruits and their families about the situation. As soon as we found out about the recent development with the response to our appeal, we relayed that. … Nothing’s concrete. It was encouraging. We’re hoping to get more concrete answers. My understanding is the next time we hear from them (NCAA), it’s the finality of it. We’re looking forward to that, and we’ll continue to communicate that (for recruits).

“The signing period is unique when you have that going on, especially when you have one scholarship. So, I think we’re working our tails off to be prepared. Last couple years it feels like you have to have a Plan A, Plan B. So we’ve worked for both, and we’re moving along. Hopefully once we get the clarity one way or another we kind of go from there. In the meantime, I think our staff’s done a great job with this situation. They’re recruiting, and there will be a day where we won’t have that and we’ll be back to a level playing field. We’re certainly looking forward to that. That will allow us to get to where we want to be, in terms of continuity. Just one plan, a plan where you have to be flexible versus two different plans.”

So, will UH try to fill its one current opening this period, or wait for the spring? It sounds like either one could happen.

“I think there’s a possibility where we could do that this fall, or we could do it in the spring,” Ganot said. “I feel really good about the recruits we’ve homed in on. As you know, signing period just started today. And even if we were to sign one, it would be one, right now, because we have (just) one. It’s just an unbelievably unique situation, and we’re going to navigate through it. We’re looking forward to the day where we’re not navigating, and just back to normal.”

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So, about that Armed Forces Classic. It sounds like there’s still some stray tickets available, if you’re interested in going. (They’ll all be upper level, as the lower bowl is still reserved for military personnel for the Veterans Day event.)

If you needed a refresher, it’s an ESPN-televised doubleheader for the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. It was initially going to be played at Bloch Arena until a late switch. (UH is still participating in the Pearl Harbor Invitational Dec. 6-7, a totally separate event.)

Here’s who’s playing. It’s a doozy. At 2 p.m., No. 10 Arizona plays No. 12 Michigan State. Then it’s No. 11 Indiana vs. No. 3 Kansas, probably around 4:30. You’ll be hard-pressed to find this kind of college basketball pedigree under one roof for a one-day event.

It sounds like all four AFC teams will have some special camo-style uniforms they’ll debut for the game.

Then it’s UH’s season opener against SIU-Edwardsville at 9 p.m. UH will play on the same special court, which is pretty cool.

Here’s a preview of the hardwood court they installed Wednesday. Other parts of the Sheriff had already been done up in Navy duds.

Armed Forces Classic hardwood court is down in the Stan Sheriff Center. Pretty slick (figuratively, not literally). pic.twitter.com/NbrJECAUaw

— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) November 10, 2016

There’s plenty of national media here to cover the event, like ESPN’s Andy Katz.

Bill Self and Tom Crean here together at Pearl Harbor USS Arizona memorial before… https://t.co/dquZ5ex4mD pic.twitter.com/4y4ESEpRTG

— Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz) November 10, 2016

Some local beat writers also made the trip. Here’s a story by the Arizona Daily Star’s Bruce Pascoe, who’s been here in the past for the Diamond Head Classic.

Here’s some shots of the Stan Sheriff setup over the last couple of days.