UH coach Mike Wilton said signing international players fits into his recruiting budget and philosophical belief of creating a culturally diverse roster.

The 2002 team was pieced together with a $5,000 annual recruiting budget, barely enough to cover assistant coach Tino Reyes' expenses to attend Mainland volleyball tournaments. Wilton said the booster club supplemented recruiting expenses.

The Warriors learned they can stretch their budget by recruiting international players, who will sign without visiting the Manoa campus. The two best players in the program's history — Yuval Katz of Israel and Costas Theocharidis of Greece — did not take recruiting visits.

Because there are no intercollegiate volleyball leagues in Europe, "if you want to play competitive volleyball and attend a university, you have to come to America," said Dejan Miladinovic, a former Warrior who was raised in Serbia.

When Wilton was hired as UH coach in 1993, he soon discovered that many top players from Punahou School and the Kamehameha Schools had little interest in staying home.

"Almost all of the more developed players who were coming out of the ILH barely gave us a look-see," he said.

Meanwhile, UCLA and Pepperdine were attracting the top prospects from Southern California, the richest volleyball area in the country. With no roster limits, UCLA was able to stockpile players. Last year, UCLA used 25 players; UH played 12.

"Because of budgetary and geographical concerns, we were behind the 8-ball in recruiting on the continent," Wilton said. "The third option is to recruit internationally. I like the idea of having a balance of Hawai'i, Mainland and international players."

Miladinovic said many European players welcome the opportunity to attend a school in the United States.

Miladinovic, who is studying for his MBA, said there are more opportunities in this country, "not just in volleyball, but in life."

In turn, Dave Deuser, head coach of 2003 national champion Lewis University, said recruiting internationally provides financially limited teams with an opportunity to land a skilled player at the cost of postage for videotapes and long-distance telephone service.

"Until we won the national championship, I didn't have a recruiting budget," Deuser said. "We get a lot of international players, but if people think I'm flying around the world, they are sorely mistaken."

Miladinovic added: "The world is smaller because of the Web. You can go to a site, and you can take a virtual tour of the campus. There's plenty of information."

Wilton said the NCAA's tightening of restrictions on recruiting internationally already cost the Warriors a prospect from Serbia this year. But Wilton said he wants to keep recruiting internationally because "I like the idea of team with a wide variety of cultures. Diversity is enjoyable and educational."