Posted on: Saturday, October 12, 2002
'Outta sight' Midnight Ohana draws crowd
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
A groovy time was had by all at the Midnight Ohana.
A crowd of around 4,500 gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center late last night and into this morning to watch the unveiling of the 2002-03 University of Hawai'i basketball teams.
The players and coaches — from both the men's and women's teams — appeared in 1970s-themed costumes for their introductions.
"The whole night was fun," said UH men's head coach Riley Wallace. "To get the kids to do that, our marketing department put the whole thing together. They were really good."
Wallace's costume drew some of the loudest applause when he was introduced as the "Fat Bastard" character from the Austin Powers movies. UH women's head coach Vince Goo appeared as Austin Powers.
Some of the players' costumes included the Village People, Sonny and Cher, Charlie's Angels and Superman.
Shortly after midnight, an intrasquad scrimmage was held by the men's team. Oct. 12 is the first official date that NCAA basketball teams can begin practicing.
Haim Shimonovich, a 6-foot-10 junior center, finished with game-highs of 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Green team to a 56-37 rout of the White.
"I said when we had the draft that whoever had Haim would probably win it because the man in the middle makes a lot of difference," Wallace said.
Junior Carl English, the leading returning scorer from last season's record-breaking 27-6 team, drained four 3-pointers and added 15 points for the Green.
English shot 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half, when the Green took a commanding 39-21 lead.
Phil Martin led the White with 14 points and four rebounds.
Newcomer Michael Kuebler, a junior college transfer from Clackamas Community College (Ore.), won the 3-point shootout, 15-8, over Jade Abele of the women's team.
English also won the slam-dunk contest with a running alley-oop dunk off a pass from 5-4 teammate Lance Takaki.
The 'Bows are scheduled to open their season with an exhibition game against the California All-Stars on Nov. 17. The regular season starts on Nov. 22 against Arkansas-Little Rock.
