'Bows opening foe also inexperienced

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mississippi Valley State doesn't want to hear anything about how new the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is this season.

"We're so young," MVS head coach Lafayette Stribling said. "We have four or five freshmen that we're depending on playing."

So it will be a battle of newcomers tomorrow when the Rainbow Warriors host the Delta Devils at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It also will be the season opener for Hawai'i. MVS lost at Jacksonville State last Friday, 83-76.

The 'Bows have five new recruits on their 13-player roster, and all five are expected to see action tonight.

"We're as ready as we can be at this point," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "Sometimes, more practice doesn't make you more ready. Sometimes, you need to play games to see where you stand."

If anything, the game should provide an interesting test for the 'Bows, who admit to knowing very little about the Delta Devils.

"We know what they've done in the past, and I've seen their roster and stuff," Wallace said. "But we're still trying to get (scouting) reports on them."

The teams have met just once, in 1986 when Hawai'i defeated MVS, 97-81, in a consolation game of Arizona State's Kactus Klassic tournament. Back then, Wallace was coaching Seminole College (Okla.), but Stribling was in his fourth season at MVS.

"We did play Hawai'i somewhere; I was there. I've been here for 22 years," Stribling said. "I forgot about that."

The Delta Devils went 22-7 last season, and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season championship. They were upset in the first round of their conference tournament.

MVS arrived in Honolulu late Saturday night, and practiced in the Stan Sheriff Center last night.

"We realize that we're going to have a little jet lag," Stribling said. "But we're not coming here for excuses."

'Bows will play three games in one week

Hawai'i will open this season by playing three games in a span of seven days. Following tomorrow's opener, the 'Bows will host Coastal Carolina on Friday, and then Southern Illinois on Nov. 29.

"It's all we could get," Wallace said. "It's getting tougher and tougher to get teams to come out here. We try everybody from top to bottom, and take who we can get. The teams we're bringing out this year could only make it during these dates, so that's when we play them."

Gipson still hurting, but ready to play

Junior forward Matthew Gipson returned to the court yesterday after sitting out the previous three practices because of an infection in his right foot.

"It's about 70 percent; it still hurts," he said. "But as long as Coach wants to put me in, I'm ready to go."

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