Warrior basketball to cash in

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will make a road trip to play at Saint Louis next season.

Win or lose, the Rainbow Warriors will score.

Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said Saint Louis officials have guaranteed to pay UH $25,000 for the game, which is scheduled for Dec. 4.

"They're basically covering all our costs, and we should still have some money left," Wallace said.

What's more, the Billikens have agreed to play a game at the Stan Sheriff Center during the 2005-06 season, and UH will not have to reciprocate the $25,000 guarantee for that "return" game.

"They called us wanting to play, and the deal we got turned out pretty good, so we took it," Wallace said.

It also helped that Wallace was raised in nearby Jerseyville, Ill., and many of his family members still live in the area.

Saint Louis, which competes in Conference USA, went 19-13 last season and advanced to the second round of the NIT. Hawai'i finished 21-12 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Three other non-conference teams have signed contracts to play Hawai'i at the Stan Sheriff Center next season: Coastal Carolina, Southern Illinois and Texas Southern.

The entire 2004-05 schedule is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

In related UH basketball news, 5-foot-7 point guard Cantrell Fletcher signed a letter of intent yesterday to play for Towson (Md.).

Fletcher, who played last season at Cecil Community College (Md.), made a recruiting visit to Hawai'i last week.

"I liked Hawai'i a lot; I just wanted to be closer to home and my family," said Fletcher, who is from Philadelphia.

Fletcher averaged 13.5 points and 9.1 assists last season for Cecil, which is a Division II junior college.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.