Rainbow basketball team signs 6-10 forward

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

You can add another country to the list of international players on the roster of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

Dane Dmitrovic (pronounced DAH-nay de-MEE-tro-vich), a 6-foot-10 forward from Slovenia, signed a letter of intent yesterday to play for the Rainbow Warriors.

"If I had to compare him to somebody, I would say (Toni) Kukoc," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "He's long and lean. He has a nice outside shot, but he can take it to the hole, too."

Dmitrovic, who weighs 205 pounds, shoots with his left hand and can play both forward positions. He averaged around 16 points and 10 rebounds per game last season for Gimnazija Bezigrad High School, which won the Slovenian championship.

He will be a freshman at UH this fall, and will have five years to complete four seasons of eligibility.

"The only question is his strength," Wallace said. "He has a lot of skills."

Wallace said he discovered Dmitrovic through a friend of former UH star Predrag Savovic.

"We heard some good things, got a hold of some film, and liked what we saw," Wallace said.

Dmitrovic visited the UH-Manoa campus two weeks ago.

He is the first recruit to sign with the 'Bows. The signing period started yesterday and will end on May 15.

The 'Bows have three more scholarships available. The top five candidates to fill those scholarships are one more European player and the following four:

• Jason Carter, a 5-9 shooting guard who averaged 16.4 points and 4.9 rebounds at Barton County Community College (Kan.) last season.

Carter visited UH last week. He also visited South Carolina and San Jose State, and is still expected to visit Wichita State and South Alabama.

"I really like Hawai'i right now," he said last week. "But I still have a couple more places to see."

• Emigijus Lukosius, a 6-6 forward who is the latest in the Lithuania-Weatherford College (Texas) connection.

He averaged around 23 points and 11 rebounds per game last season, and was a second-team junior college All-American.

Former 'Bows Nerijus Puida and Mindaugas Burneika are also originally from Lithuania and attended Weatherford before signing with UH.

• Michael Kuebler, a 6-5 guard from Clackamas Community College (Ore.). He averaged 22.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game last season, and was named the most valuable player of the Southern Division of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

Current UH point guard Mark Campbell played with Kuebler at Clackamas last season.

• Renaldo Major, a 6-6 forward who averaged 15.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game at South Plains College (Texas) last season. He was a first-team all-conference and all-region selection.