For the office of immediate impact with the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, there is not a shortage of candidates.

Five new scholarship recruits will be shot into the mix of potential starters when the Rainbow Warriors conduct their first team practice of the 2008-09 season at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center. That is the first time teams are allowed to start

The 'Bows lost seven seniors from last season's team, and they accounted for 80 percent of the scoring and 64 percent of the rebounding.

Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said newcomers Brandon Adams, Petras Balocka, Roderick Flemings, Adam Jespersen and Lasha Parghalava were recruited to provide instant assistance in the absence of seniors on the 2008-09 roster.

"When you have as many quality seniors as we lost last year, you don't have the luxury of taking the time to develop guys over a longer period of time," Nash said. "We had to find guys who were ready to play on the Division I level, and we think we did that."

The crown jewel of the recruiting class is Flemings, a 6-foot-7 junior wing player from Texas. He was a first-team junior college All-America player last season at Weatherford College (Texas), and chose Hawai'i over Kentucky.

"Roderick is as advertised," Nash said. "But I'm certainly not going to put the pressure on him to be the savior of this program. It might happen that he becomes the focal point, but I still believe in the team concept and he can only be as good as the players around him."

Flemings has not participated in recent individual workouts because of an injured right ankle, and he described it as "maybe 60 percent right now."

"It's getting better every day," he said. "I probably won't be able to do everything in practice right now, but it's more important for me to be ready for the season."

Flemings has NCAA Division I experience — he played at Oklahoma State as a freshman — and said he is aware of the expectations.

"I hear the people talking, but I don't feel any pressure," he said. "I'm just going to play hard and do the best I can to help this team."

Balocka, a 6-8 junior forward, is also considered an "experienced" newcomer. He played at East Tennessee State as a freshman.

At 22, he is the oldest player on the UH roster. At 250 pounds, he is also the strongest player, and has already established some new weight-room records for a UH basketball player.

"A lot of us are prepared to play right now, so this is not building from the ground up," said Balocka, who is originally from Lithuania. "I think I can bring toughness and rebounding, even leadership. This is my first year here, but I want to help any way I can as fast as I can."

Parghalava and Balocka were teammates at Pensacola Junior College (Fla.) last season. Parghalava, a 6-2 junior, is expected to challenge for the starting role at shooting guard.

"We've been working out the last six weeks, but I'm ready to start the team practices already," said Parghalava, who is originally from the Georgia Republic. "I came here to win, and I like how this team looks."

Jespersen, a 6-7 forward, is a true freshman who was considered one of the top high school players in Canada last season.

"I think the guys who were here last year, even the redshirts, have an advantage just because they know the system," he said. "But I like that everybody is being given a shot. It makes it really exciting for everybody."

Adams, 6-7 junior forward, has tentative plans to redshirt the 2008-09 season, but that doesn't mean he plans to relax during practices.

"It actually means I have to work harder," he said. "I have to be better than everybody next year, so I have to be ready to give my all every day this year."

In years past, the 'Bows would have been introduced to the public during a "Twilight 'Ohana" festival. Nash opted to do away with it this year in favor of a full, standard practice.

Tomorrow is the first day teams can start full practices under NCAA rules.

Adams said he would have liked to display his athletic skills during a slam-dunk contest.

"Oh, I would've won it," he said with a laugh. "I had some good stuff ready. Honestly, I was a little disappointed when I found out we weren't having a midnight thing, but it's not that big of a deal. It's more important for us to practice and get ready for the season."