No starting roles or playing minutes will be determined by tonight's slam-dunk contest for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, but the players are abuzz about it anyway.

The slam-dunk contest will be staged as part of the Twilight 'Ohana event tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. Today is the first day NCAA basketball teams can begin practicing, and the UH men's and women's teams will be introduced to the public tonight.

Three newcomers on the UH men's team are hoping to make an emphatic opening statement in the slam-dunk contest.

New recruits Bill Amis, Conrad Fitzgerald and Kareem Nitoto are expected to enter the slam-dunk contest, along with returnees Riley Luettgerodt and Alex Veit.

"Besides me, I would say everybody has a good chance to win it," Luettgerodt said with a laugh. "I'm just going out there for fun to see what I can do. I know these other guys are better."

Veit, a 6-foot-8 senior, is the top returning dunker, but he said the newcomers will be difficult to beat.

"I'm more of a power dunker — I can't do all the cool, behind-the-back and through-the-legs stuff," he said. "I'll just go up there and dunk it hard and see what that gets me."

Many of the other players on the team are picking freshmen Fitzgerald and Nitoto as the dunkers to watch.

Fitzgerald is a 6-4 guard; Nitoto, at 6-3, is the shortest player on the team.

"I'm going with Conrad Fitzgerald," starting point guard Matt Gibson said. "He's probably the most athletic guy on the team."

Fellow senior starter Bobby Nash said: "Alex (Veit) can get up, but I think one of the new guys might get it. Probably Conrad."

Nitoto has a 44-inch vertical jump, and he said he's got "a couple of tricks" ready for tonight.

"I'm repping the little people out there," he said. "But I want it to be a surprise. You have to be there to see it."

There will also be a 3-point shootout between the men's and women's teams. Either Gibson or Nash is expected to represent the men's team; either Amy Kotani or Shannon Nishi is expected to represent the women.

The Rainbow Wahine will scrimmage around 9 p.m., with the Rainbow Warriors to follow around 9:20.

Gibson was the first pick in the draft for the men's scrimmage; Nash went second.

"It doesn't matter who goes where," Gibson said. "We're all teammates, but if we're playing against each other, we're going all out to win."

Also tonight, two UH students — one male and one female — will win $750 each toward their tuition during the Honolulu Ford Shot for Tuition contest.

UH MEN'S INTRASQUAD SCRIMMAGE

Green: Bill Amis, Jared Dillinger, Conrad Fitzgerald, Matt Gibson, Ji Xiang, Adhar Mayen, Gary Satterwhite.

White: Beau Albrechtson, Paul Campbell, Riley Luettgerodt, Bobby Nash, Kareem Nitoto, P.J. Owsley, Alex Veit.

UH WOMEN'S INTRASQUAD SCRIMMAGE

Green: Keisha Kanekoa, Megan Tinnin, Catherine Cho, Dita Liepkalne, Tanya Smith, Shannon Nishi, Katie Wilson.

White: Amy Kotani, Leilani Galdones, Saundra Cariaga, Ebony Jones, Iwona Zagrobelna, Allie Patterson.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.