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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Hawaii gets prep guard


By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Bobby Miles

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The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team may have secured its point guard of the future last night.

Bobby Miles — a high-scoring point guard at Workman High School in City of Industry, Calif. — said last night that he is committed to playing for the Rainbow Warriors next season.

"I want to come in there and help the team at point," he said. "I feel like I can contribute right away."

Miles, who is 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds, averaged around 28 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists as a senior this past season at Workman. He was named to the All-CIF Division 4A second team.

The recruiting website www.hoopscooponline.com stated that Miles is "good enough to step in and make an immediate impact next year in the Pac-10 Conference, and be ranked in the 50-100 range nationally when we publish our Final Ranking of the Top Players Nationally in the Class of 2010 later this spring."

Miles was also being recruited by several programs, including UCLA, Nevada, Portland and Santa Clara. However, he said Hawai'i was the only program that was consistently recruiting him over the past month.

Miles made his recruiting trip to the Mānoa campus last weekend. He said he thought about committing to the Hawai'i coaches before the trip ended on Sunday, but he wanted to talk to his parents first.

"I had a great trip over there and came home and talked it over with my parents, and they said it sounded like a great fit," Miles said. "Everything about Hawai'i just felt right."

During his visit, Miles was in the Stan Sheriff Center for the Hawai'i men's volleyball team's exciting five-set playoff victory over Pepperdine.

"That was a great atmosphere — Hawai'i has great fans," he said. "I hope it's like that for basketball."

Miles said he plans to sign a national letter of intent today, when he is honored at his high school.

He will be a freshman at Hawai'i next season, and will have four seasons of collegiate eligibility.

Miles, who said he has a 3.04 grade point average, is already qualified academically to attend Hawai'i.

Miles is expected to fill a need at the point guard position. A lack of backcourt depth haunted the 'Bows last season, when they finished with a 10-20 record.

Senior-to-be Hiram Thompson is the returning starter. Jeremy Lay, who was Thompson's backup last season, recently said that he would not return next season.

Miles is also the latest addition to an ever-growing recruiting class.

Once he signs his letter of intent, he will become the sixth new recruit to join the Hawai'i roster for next season.

The others are:

• Bo Barnes, a 6-4 shooting guard at Westwind Prep International in Arizona.

• Jordan Coleman, a 6-4 guard at Calabasas High in California.

• Vander Joaquim, a 6-10 post player at College of Eastern Utah.

• Josten Thomas, a 6-7 forward at College of Southern Idaho.

• Trevor Wiseman, a 6-8 guard/forward at Golden Valley High in California.

Gib Arnold was named the new Hawai'i head coach in March. Five of the six new recruits — including Miles — committed to Hawai'i after Arnold took over.

Miles, Barnes, Coleman and Wiseman will all be freshmen at Hawai'i next season.

Miles said he did not play against Coleman or Wiseman in high school, but he has heard of both players.

"It'll be cool to play with other guys from (California)," Miles said.

Per NCAA rules, Arnold cannot comment on recruits until a national letter of intent is signed and approved by UH officials.

Dominick Brumfield, a 6-8 forward at Big Bend Community College in Washington, also made a recruiting visit to Hawai'i last weekend. He has yet to make a decision.

Godwin Okonji, a 6-9 forward at Findlay Prep in Nevada, recently committed to play for Loyola Marymount. Hawai'i had been recruiting Okonji since last year.