Hawaii
Hawaii men's basketball team signs program's 1st recruit from Italy
HONOLULU — The Hawaii men’s basketball team moved a step closer to completing its 2024-25 roster with the announced signing of guard Jacopo Van der Knaap of Italy on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-5 Van der Knaap will be a 21-year-old freshman for coach Eran Ganot this fall after competing as an amateur for pro clubs Tobarra CB (Spain) and BNXT League (Belgium, the Netherlands) the last two years. He averaged 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 25 appearances for Tobarra in 2023-24.
Van der Knaap is the first player from Italy (Verona) in program history. He also has experience playing for the national team program of the Netherlands in the FIBA U20 European Championships.
“Jacopo is a big guard who has a knack for scoring and can play multiple positions on the perimeter,” Ganot said in a statement. “He’s been an elite shooter with vast international experience and we love the poise and maturity he plays with. His development over the years has been impressive and we look forward to seeing that trend continue here. We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Jacopo to the program.”
He is the second addition of a European player within a week for UH; it landed forward Gytis Nemeiksa, a Xavier transfer from Lithuania, last weekend.
UH is believed to have three scholarships remaining to assign for 2024-25.
Below is a highlight montage of Van der Knaap against Division I teams UC San Diego, BYU, Virginia Tech and American in the summer of 2023.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
Hawaii
2026 Sony Open field is announced. See who’s playing in Hawaii
The Sony Open in Hawaii has the honors of being the kickoff event to the 2026 PGA Tour season after the cancellation of The Sentry at Kapalua this season.
Instead of Maui, the Tour debuts in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Jan. 15-18, at the Seth Raynor-designed Waialae Country Club, where Nick Taylor prevailed in a playoff over Nico Echavarria last year.
Among the changes this season is the field size, which was reduced from 144 to 120, and, there is no longer is a Monday qualifier offering four spots. Will that help with pace of play? Stay tuned.
The field includes the following notables in addition to Taylor and Echavarria: Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Michael Brennan, Corey Conners, Tony Finau, Chris Gotterup, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Sahith Theegala, Gary Woodland and 62-year-old Vijay Singh.
Here’s the full field for the Sony Open, which will be live on Golf Channel all four days as well as NBC with early-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
This year’s Sony purse is $9.1 million and the winner also will receive 500 FedEx Cup points.
Hawaii
Hawaii Pacific basketball teams split with Menlo | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii
Hawaii County accepting applications for Summer Fun employees
HAWAII ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) – The County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for temporary positions in its 2026 Summer Fun program.
The two positions available are Activity Aide I ($17.50 per hour) and Activity Aide II ($19 per hour).
To be considered for employment, applicants must possess a valid first-aid certification, attend mandatory training June 2–5, and be available to work June 8–July 17.
Applications are available online on the Parks and Recreation website, and must be submitted to the Recreation Division Office at 799 Pi‘ilani St., Hilo, HI 96720, postmarked by Saturday, Feb. 28.
For more information, call the Recreation Division Office at (808) 961-8740.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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