CNN/SI will air Rainbow Classic
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawai'i men's basketball team received news yesterday worthy of CNN/-Sports Illustrated.
But it had nothing to do with the eligibility status of three of its foreign players.
Eight games of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic will be televised nationally next month on CNN/SI, which reaches more than 20 million homes across the United States.
"That's very good news," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "It can help our recruiting because it gets shown all over (the nation), but it also helps the Rainbow Classic."
CNN/SI primarily airs sports news 24 hours a day, but the Rainbow Classic is part of an effort by the station to broadcast more live sporting events.
The Rainbow Classic is scheduled for Dec. 19-22, and will feature Hawai'i and seven other Division I teams, including No. 17 Boston College.
All eight night games of the tournament are scheduled to be televised live. The station will pick up the K5 feed of the games featuring the broadcast team of Jim Leahey and Artie Wilson.
In Hawai'i, the games will be televised on K5, but not CNN/SI.
"Our goal is to help expose UH and the state of Hawai'i to the rest of the nation," said John Fink, president and general manager of K5. "We'd like to work with some state departments to try and get the message out (during the broadcasts) about Hawai'i."
It was not the only good news UH received yesterday.
Senior forward Mindaugas Burneika was cleared by the NCAA with no penalty for his past participation in a league in Lithuania. He will start at power forward tonight when the Rainbow Warriors open their season against Norfolk State in the Nike Tip-Off Tournament.
However, the status of senior guard Predrag Savovic and junior forward Luc-Arthur Vebobe remains unclear.
Vebobe will sit out tonight's game because of his past participation with professionals in France. UH officials have recommended that Vebobe sit out two games, but the NCAA has not yet responded with an exact penalty.
The NCAA also has not ruled on the status of Savovic, who was the team's leading scorer last season. UH is recommending that he not sit out any games.
"If we don't hear by (today), we'll have to make a decision," Wallace said.
Savovic played in UH's 85-81 exhibition victory over the EA Sports West All-Stars on Sunday.
If he plays tonight, Savovic will start at shooting guard. Mike McIntyre will start at the point guard, Carl English at small forward, Burneika at power forward, and Haim Shimonovich at center. If Savovic does not play, Mark Campbell will move into the starting lineup.
The 'Bows could certainly use Savovic against a Norfolk State team that is being picked to finish either first or second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The MEAC is the same conference that sent Hampton to an upset of Iowa State in last year's NCAA Tournament.
Norfolk State finished 12-17 last season, but beat Hampton twice. Starting guards Terrance Winston and Derrick Smith, who combined to average 25 points per game last season, return from that team.
"They're very athletic," Wallace said. "It's going to be a tougher game for us than people might think."
C.J. Young, a 7-foot junior transfer from Midland College (Texas), is considered one of Norfolk State's top junior college recruits. He was raised in Wai'anae before moving to Washington after his sophomore year in high school.
The UH game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., or 30 minutes after a 5 p.m. game between Drake and Sam Houston State.
