Exercise in patience
So, to state the obvious, it hasn’t been a gangbusters start to the spring signing period for the Hawaii basketball team.
There have been no official announcements yet (the period began on April 12 and runs through May 17), nor any known commitments — although it sounds like the Rainbow Warriors might be close to something with Finnish point guard Edon Maxhuni. Two of the three unsigned players UH brought in this period are off the board to other teams — including one to a conference rival.
UPDATE: Looks like Maxhuni is off the board as well. He’s reportedly committed to Long Beach State.
This was retweeted by Maxhuni:
Congrats to 2017 @hba_marsky PG @EdonMaxhuni for his committment to play for Coach Dan Monson at @LBSUhoops
— Hanno Möttölä (@HannoMottola) April 22, 2017
Eran Ganot and his staff are heading out again this week; no players are expected to visit Manoa this weekend.
To sum up, it’s clear some patience is required as the Rainbow Warriors fill out their roster for the coming season.
Associate head coach Adam Jacobsen appeared on the Hoops Talk radio show on 1420-AM on Wednesday. On the subject of recruiting setbacks — shooting guard Rylan Bergersen committed to BYU and center Colin Russell chose UC Davis — Jacobsen was measured.
“Unfortunately we lost a couple guys, but I think we’ll get some guys just as good as those guys,” he said.
UH still has four scholarships to play with. The upside to that haul is that players are transferring out of programs all the time and might suddenly become available later in the offseason.
The downside is obvious: The remaining talent is flying off the board. (Even if that hasn’t exactly been seen so far in the Big West overall.)
UC Davis also signed high schooler Delveion Jackson.
Cal Poly has announced a couple of signings.
UC Riverside indicated indirectly it got a pickup.
Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Santa Barbara haven’t officially announced anyone on their websites.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t signed anyone yet, or aren’t about to. UCSB and new coach Joe Pasternack reportedly gained the services of Rice graduate transfer Marcus Jackson (12.2 ppg).
Meanwhile, the Big West’s two most prominent transfer losses are looking to move to the Pac-12. Former LBSU point guard Justin Bibbins has been taken in by Utah and CSUN’s Kendall Smith is taking a visit to Colorado.
Hang in there, UH fans. There should be some news before too much longer.
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On a side note, congrats to former Hawaii Pacific women’s coach Jeff Harada for getting tabbed to the head women’s job at Cal State Fullerton.
Tick tick. Realize staff got a late start due to NCAA and transfers but still a some guys out there. Still have time to get more visits in. Trust the coaches to get it done. Go Bows
Recruiting is a year round endeavor so in that perspective I don’t know how much the coaches have been searching/or targeting prospects. Maybe the uncertainty of the scholarship number available and only Avea was signed in the early signing period. So now, the coaching staff is having to scramble for players. I agree that Russell wasn’t signed. Maybe he was offered, but nonetheless he choose to go elsewhere. We shouldn’t just settle on a player just to fill the roster, you want players who can contribute what we need. We need a scorer/shooter, rebounder, and a ball handler/distributor. In other words, a PG, a SG/SF, C/PF, and a swingman. They are out there somewhere. Coaches, find them! Good Luck to Ya.
What happened with Jahvon Blair, Marcus Shaver, and Jaaron Stallworth? No visits planned?
Colin Russell chose UC Davis over us?! I mean no offense to anyone from Davis, CA but geez…..
Davis is close to Russell’s hometown, he’ll be playing for the defending conference champions and a head coach who played in the NBA. No surprise he chose Davis over UH.
Not sure if Jahvon Blair was ever in play, but doesn’t matter now: he committed to Patrick Ewing (Georgetown).
Hopefully, as Brian hints, Maxhuni still a possibility. Long Beach reportedly has a commitment from a JC point guard, so perhaps that helped UH’s cause.
Sounds like Marcus Shaver is going elsewhere as well.
Ouch! Maxhuni to Long Beach State.
Uh oh. Losing recruits to BW opponents not a good sign if UH wants to be top dog in conference. One thing to lose to BYU but….Clock keeps ticking and players keep saying “thanks but no thanks”. Hope staff can make something good happen.
Location, location, location…. Tough to recruit to Hawai’i -these players already knew where they wanted to go, just got a free trip here. It feels like our recruitment efforts just stop while we waited for the NCAA response, might be getting warm-bodies again
Maxhuni signing with Long Beach State tells me that he’s athletic; that he’s capable of creating his own shot.
I am disappointed.
Kameron Rooks, Cal center, leaving team as graduate transfer. Maybe staff should take a look to see if UH has a shot with him
Here’s hoping Kobe Paras transfers here instead of UCLA, that would be a great coup.
That Stallworth kid is a real baller… He has USNavy Prep experience and had Yuba College in the hunt for a California JC State title this season as a Freshman. Yuba had a convincing win over San Diego CC, the eventual 2017 State Champion early in the season, but an injury to Stallworth hurt Yuba’s chances of finishing strong. He’s very athletic, a great ball handler, and makes his teammates look good with his ability to penetrate and dish. He would fit in perfectly with UH!
Looks like UCSB, Middle Tennessee, Sacramento State, UC Davis, Chico State, and Portland State are showing interest.
Stallworth’s UH Official Visit is next week… right before the NLI signing day. Per his Twitter and Instagram accounts.