Hawaii Warrior World

Formerly about Rainbow Warriors basketball, but now covering all University of Hawaii sports.

About the blog host

Brian McInnis has covered sports on Oahu full time since 2007, when he joined the Honolulu Star-Bulletin staff as a general reporter. He was the UH basketball beat writer from the 2008-09 season through 2017-18. Follow him on twitter @Brian_McInnis

Latest news

Go see this team

By Brian McInnis on January 12, 2019

Look away for a second, and you might miss something special. Stijn van Tilburg or Rado Parapunov dropping the hammer. Joe Worsley, at just 6 feet, elevating for a putdown kill when he’s not firing a cross-court set on the money. A blistering serve or a fantastic defensive pickup from just about anyone on the floor. After a few viewings up close this season, this is what this non-volleyball writer and casual follower of the sport has concluded: The fourth-ranked […]

‘Bows clamp down on Allman, Fullerton

By Brian McInnis on January 10, 2019

Two opponents have scored 40 points against Hawaii in a Big West game at the Stan Sheriff Center. The first to do it, UC Davis guard Corey Hawkins, did it on just 14 shots from the field in an 11-point Aggies road win in 2013, his sophomore season. He scored 29 and 19 points on his next two visits, both Rainbow Warriors victories. The most recent 40-bomber, Cal State Fullerton guard Kyle Allman Jr., did it last year, rallying the […]

Day of the dedications

By Brian McInnis on January 9, 2019

It was a 2-for-1 special Wednesday morning at the Manoa lower campus. Two brand-new facilities upgrades received Native Hawaiian blessings and dedications essentially at the same time (they were back-to-back). Hawaii baseball got its new locker room — re-branded a clubhouse — at Les Murakami Stadium, and the UH basketball teams can say their Gym II practice facility is officially open for business. Check out the new #HawaiiBSB locker room. 😶 pic.twitter.com/PzIgVvA8mx — Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) January 9, 2019 The […]

Rolo set to move up seniority chart

By Brian McInnis on January 8, 2019

The Nick Rolovich era of Hawaii football has been extended into the 2020s. UH made official a two-year extension for the head coach through the 2022 season, with the possibility of another year for the former Rainbow Warrior quarterback should UH qualify for a bowl game in 2019 or 2020. “Rolo” has three years in the books with an 18-22 record, including an 8-6 mark and a Hawaii Bowl berth in the recently completed season of 2018. Should he continue […]

Wahine look to buck Big West trend

By Brian McInnis on January 5, 2019

There’s something to be said for getting off to good starts — in a game, in a season, in a career. Of course, that is far from everything. The Hawaii women’s basketball team has struggled in its Big West Conference openers in its current go-around in the league, but the Rainbow Wahine (except for the last two years) were able to rally and largely succeed the rest of the way. UH is 1-5 in Big West openers since rejoining the league […]

UH resolves to keep it rolling into 2019

By Brian McInnis on December 31, 2018

Happy New Year, all. The Hawaii basketball team concluded its nonconference schedule in reasonably successful fashion, going 2-1 in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and surviving a challenge from Alabama A&M in the nonleague finale on Saturday. So how does UH’s 9-5 record stack up to the rest of the Big West? As you’ll recall, the Rainbow Warriors were picked to finish sixth in the nine-team league in the preseason of 2018-19. Besides highly successful nonconference runs for UC […]

Stansberry talks the talk against Alabama A&M

By Brian McInnis on December 29, 2018

Eddie Stansberry shot the shot. He proved he could talk the talk, too. Perhaps inspired by the return of chatterbox teammate Sheriff Drammeh, the usually mild-mannered Stansberry exchanged some good-natured smack talk with Alabama A&M players late in Hawaii’s 71-63 win over the Bulldogs to close out nonconference play with a 9-5 record. The junior college transfer had career highs of 26 points and six 3-pointers. In the final minutes, he and Jack Purchase combined to squelch a 9-0 AAMU […]

Raimo joins elite company

By Brian McInnis on December 26, 2018

Hawaii basketball forward Zigmars Raimo joined some exclusive company when he was named to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic all-tournament team on Christmas. He was joined by tournament MVP Alex Robinson and Jaylen Fisher of tourney champion TCU, Jordan Barnes of runner-up Indiana State and Nate Sestina of third-place Bucknell. In the DHC’s 10 years, only six Rainbow Warriors have been named to the all-tourney team. The junior from Latvia had seven points and seven rebounds against UNLV, 14 […]

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