UH awaits word from NIT

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

TULSA, Okla. — It appears there will be a home hana hou for the Hawai'i men's basketball team this season.

"I'm not going to believe it until I get the official word," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "But it's a pretty good sign when they tell you to be ready."

It also seems likely that the Hawai'i women will also be invited to the postseason, having been told to be prepared for a possible first-round WNIT contest on the Mainland on Friday. If the Rainbow Wahine are invited to the WNIT, it will be their fourth consecutive appearance.

The men's NIT pairings will be announced tonight. The NCAA Tournament gets first shot at filling out its field of 65 teams. The NIT takes the next best 40 teams available.

Hawai'i dropped to 18-11 after a 66-56 loss to Tulsa in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday.

Wallace said Eastern Washington is UH's tentative first-round opponent, although the NIT matchups could be altered by any surprise selections to the NCAA Tournament.

"This is all speculation," Wallace said. "I just want a chance to play at home. If we get that, it doesn't matter too much to me who we play because it'll be somebody from the West (region)."

News of the likely NIT bid seemed to raise the spirits of the UH players yesterday.

"It's not what we wanted in the beginning, but it's still better than nothing," leading scorer Carl English said. "It means at least one more home game for us."

Hawai'i is 15-1 in the Stan Sheriff Center this season, and could host as many as four NIT games before the NIT final four at New York's Madison Square Garden. Unlike the NCAA Tournament, the NIT does not have set playing sites, except for the semifinals and final in New York.

The games leading up to that are based on regional logistics and fan interest. Because of that, Wallace was already urging fans to come out for the possible Wednesday game.

"If you win and show that you can fill your arena, they'll keep letting you host the next round," Wallace said. "That's how we did it (in 1998) with Anthony Carter and Alika (Smith). We won and the crowd came out, so we got three games at home. This team could do that, too."

English added: "We're 10 times better at home than we are anywhere else. And we're even better when the fans show up. The way I see it, the more we can host, the better our chances of going to New York."

If Eastern Washington is indeed UH's first-round opponent, it won't be easy. The Eagles are 18-12 and lost in the Big Sky Conference title game to Weber State, 60-57.

UH starters Mark Campbell and Michael Kuebler were recruited strongly by Eastern Washington out of Clackamas (Ore.) Community College.

"If that's who we end up playing, it should be fun," said Campbell, who played at Mt. Vernon High in Washington. "I know the coaches there because they tried to recruit me, and I played against some of those players before."

Hawai'i participated in the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. Wallace, however, said the NIT is not a consolation, and the goal of the 'Bows would be "to win the whole thing."

"Of course you'd rather be in the (NCAA) Tournament," he said. "But this is another chance to go out and have some fun and win some more games. Tulsa won the NIT a couple years ago and it got them going the next couple years."

• English class: Carl English received a standing ovation from the Tulsa crowd after receiving a trophy for selection to the WAC All-Tournament team last night.

After receiving the trophy, English congratulated each Tulsa player and coach with a handshake.

English scored 48 points in UH's two games in the tournament. His 33 points against Tulsa was the most scored by a Hawai'i player in a WAC Tournament game.

English was one of five players named to the all-tournament team. The others were Kevin Johnson and Dante Swanson from Tulsa, Kirk Snyder from Nevada, and Quinton Ross of Nevada. Johnson was named the tournament's most valuable player.

• Late arrival: The 'Bows could not get a flight out of Tulsa yesterday, so Wallace gave the team the day off. Most of the players opted to stay in the hotel to watch college basketball games on television.

The 'Bows are scheduled to return home this afternoon. That would give them just two days — tomorrow and Tuesday — to prepare for Eastern Washington, should that scenario play out.