UH's Wallace happy with latest additions
| • | 2005-06 UH men’s basketball roster |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The recruiting season for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team officially came to a close last weekend with the signing of 6-foot-10 forward Stephen Verwers.
The Rainbow Warriors added six new players to their roster for the 2005-06 season, and head coach Riley Wallace likes the projected outlook of the team.
"There's going to be competition at every position," Wallace said. "We have a lot of experience coming back and the way we recruit, we expect every new guy to come in and challenge right away."
The 'Bows finished 16-13 last season, and the glaring weakness was the point guard position.
The Hawai'i coaches addressed that issue by recruiting three point guards: Hiram Thompson, Dominic Waters and John Wilder. They are expected to challenge returnee Deonte Tatum for the starting role.
Wallace said Wilder's strength and athleticism make him the leading candidate to battle Tatum. Thompson and Waters will be true freshmen next season.
"There's no plan for redshirts, but it's always a possibility," said Wallace, who added that Thompson may take a Mormon mission sometime during his UH career.
Among the other recruits:
• Matt Lojeski, a 6-6 shooting guard, led Eastern Wyoming in scoring (17.2 per game), rebounding (6.6) and assists (2.9), and was selected to the junior college All-America third team.
Wallace said Lojeski is good enough as a shooter to challenge returnees "Little Matt" Gibson and Bobby Nash for playing time at shooting guard, and is also strong enough to play small forward, if needed.
• Ahmet Tidiane Gueye, a 6-8 forward, played with a fractured toe early in the season at Salt Lake Community College (Utah), but was still a second-team all-region selection.
Over the final nine games of the season, he averaged 14.3 points and 7.6 points per game.
Wallace said he expects Gueye and "Big Matt" Gipson to challenge for the starting power forward spot.
• Verwers will have to sit out next season at Hawai'i because he is transferring from Colorado State.
"That's actually what we wanted because we'll lose a lot of our big guys after next year," Wallace said. "I know that Colorado State wanted him back, and everybody I've talked to said he's real athletic for a big guy, so he could be a good one."
In addition to the six recruits, the 'Bows return seven scholarship players. Six of the returnees were starters at one time or another last season: Gibson, Nash, Tatum, Gipson, Julian Sensley and Chris Botez.
Sensley will be a three-year starter at small forward next season. He was voted the team's Most Outstanding Player last season after averaging 12.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
"Last year, we had one starter back — Julian Sensley," Wallace said. "This year, we have six guys who have been in there starting, so it's a different situation going into it. We feel like we filled what we were looking for."
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
