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Largely unseen Hawaii men's basketball team readies for debut in Rainbow Classic

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Largely unseen Hawaii men's basketball team readies for debut in Rainbow Classic


HONOLULU — Time to pull back the curtain.

At last, the Hawaii men’s basketball team will perform live in front of its primary audience as it opens the 2024-25 regular season against NAIA school Life Pacific in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Friday night.


What You Need To Know

  • The Hawaii men’s basketball team opens the 2024-25 regular season against NAIA school Life Pacific in the four-team Outrigger Rainbow Classic at 7 p.m. Friday
  • UH played two preseason exhibitions on Neighbor Islands and eked out wins over Division II teams Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade despite committing a combined 54 turnovers
  • The Rainbow Warriors’ roster is heavily rebuilt from 2023-24 and the starting lineup could be completely new this weekend
  • UH was picked to finish seventh in the Big West coaches preseason poll

This year’s preseason was unusual in that it did not feature an exhibition in its home venue. UH played Hawaii Hilo on the Big Island and Chaminade on Maui. Neither game was televised or live streamed, and only the Hilo game was broadcast on the radio.

UH held a “Rainbow Madness” introductory event in the Sheriff last month but it did not feature any up-and-down action.

It all contributed to an sense of mystery for a roster that was heavily rebuilt from the 20-14 squad that bowed out in the Big West semifinals in March.

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UH brought in four Division I transfers to help provide an immediate impact from the loss of its top six scorers, including an All-Big West second-teamer at forward in Justin McKoy and two career 1,000-point scorers in Noel Coleman and Bernardo da Silva. There are three more international additions and two high school graduates who made the direct leap.

“The sooner you know, the better,” 10th-year coach Eran Ganot said to a question of his preferred lineup on Tuesday. “With this team, I’d say we’ve been experimenting more. We don’t want to make quick judgments when guys are still getting comfortable. But a group has emerged and I feel like we have some key guys coming off the bench to create a spark. There’s still some competing going on.”

UH, which is set to join the Mountain West as a full member in 2026-27, will attempt to overcome expectations and earn the program’s first postseason appearance since Ganot’s first season in 2016-17. The Rainbow Warriors were picked to finish seventh in the Big West coaches preseason poll.

The starting lineup will feature, at minimum, four players either new to the roster or unused to having their name read out to the crowd in pregame introductions.

That level of transition was apparent in the team’s preseason results. UH committed 54 turnovers and won by a combined eight points in the two games against local Division II teams.

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Point guard, while always crucial, is the position to watch as the Rainbow Warriors find their way. Sophomore Tom Beattie is getting the first crack at the job, though UH has employed Houston Christian transfer Marcus Greene, freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor and walk-on-turned-scholarship guard Kody Williams at the position.

Ganot is fond of pairing point guards together in the backcourt, a la JoVon McClanahan and Juan Munoz last year.

“You want to have guys emerge. You don’t want to have a revolving door,” Ganot said.

Beattie, a 6-foot-5 New Zealander who made a name with his hustle plays last season, acknowledged his 12 turnovers against five assists in the exhibitions and said that he is still learning how to operate the offense while guarding opponents’ best perimeter player on defense. But, he added, he is up for the challenge.

The team’s giveaways, which happened on anything from inbounds passes against the press, in the open court and in the halfcourt, are “just things we can’t have,” Beattie said.

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“I feel like it was just our sloppiness,” Beattie said. “Not making a firm pass, not being strong with the ball. The ball was taken from our hands probably five times in that Hilo game.”

The only returning starter, wing Ryan Rapp, missed both exhibitions with a hand injury and is questionable to play in the three-games-in-four-days round-robin tournament. Williams missed the Chaminade game but is available.

Rapp and Beattie were recently named co-captains.

The Rainbow Classic, while a storied piece of the program’s history, has been an inconsistent presence on the UH schedule in recent years. It was left off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2023 due to difficulties filling out the field.

San Jose State (0-1) of the Mountain West and Pacific (1-0) of the West Coast Conference lead off the tournament at 4:30 p.m. preceding UH’s opener.

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“We’re a lot like everybody right now, so it’ll be a lot of new faces for all the teams, learning about each other on the fly and how quickly we can make those adjustments in real time,” Ganot said.

The inclusion of Life Pacific marked the third time in the last five editions of the Rainbow Classic that a non-Division-I team was part of the field.

Life Pacific faced five Division I opponents in the 2023-24 season and had an average margin of loss of 29.6 points. The Warriors of San Dimas, Calif., played at Loyola Marymount on Monday and lost 99-56.

Friday’s game will not officially count for Life Pacific (1-0), though it will for UH. LPU is expected to come at UH with a smallball attack; the visiting Warriors top out at 6 feet 8.

UH will likely look to leverage its size, including with 6-foot-10 sophomore Akira Jacobs at small forward. Jacobs scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting against a similarly undersized Chaminade lineup.

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Jacobs, who played for his native Japan in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is anxious to display that he is more than a 3-point specialist.

“Last year’s experience playing the 4, it was a very valuable experience playing against stronger (players),” Jacobs said. “I think that’s really helped me now that I’ve moved back to the wing. Having more height and being physically stronger than a lot of wings, I want to use that to my advantage in the games.”

There are opportunities aplenty around up front with the losses of McKoy, da Silva and Mor Seck, the affable 7-footer who went into the transfer portal and ended up at Fresno State.

Utah Tech transfer Tanner Christensen, a 6-10, 265-pound center with a deft outside touch, was UH’s most consistent player in the exhibitions; he posted a double-double in each game. Christensen has drawn raves (and administered bruises) with his physical screen-setting to free up guards.

UH is also expected to get an instant impact from Xavier transfer Gytis Nemeiksa (pronounced NAY-MAKE-SHA), a rugged, 6-8 Lithuanian with a dour countenance.

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“You guys saw the game face,” Ganot moments after Nemeiksa walked past a media scrum. “We talk a lot about ‘the look.’ We don’t have to tell him that.”

Nemeiksa started 20 games for the Musketeers, averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds.

“I expect him to follow the lead of what Kamaka (Hepa) and Jerome Desrosiers and Justin McKoy have done in the past,” Ganot said of the senior. “They’ve also had a process to go through. … But the potential’s there, the talent’s there, the desire’s there. He’s gotta stay with it.”

Along with junior Harry Rouhliadeff, UH is also expected to include Valparaiso transfer Jerome Palm in the frontcourt rotation. Palm, a vocal presence at 6-10 and 225 pounds, has enthusiastically battled the beefier Christensen on a daily basis.

“They come in and have that physicality from the get-go,” Beattie said of the bigs. “They have some of the biggest voices in the locker room. Experience, knowledge, and very smart dudes.”

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SJSU went 9-23 last season and Pacific was 6-26.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.



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Hawaii

First Alert Forecast: Bring out the sunscreen! Blue Skies and light winds

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First Alert Forecast: Bring out the sunscreen! Blue Skies and light winds


HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Today thru the weekend, it’ll be nice beach weather during the daytime with light winds and minimal rainfall. A few windward showers are possible over the eastern half of the state, but an overall drier trend is expected heading into the weekend.

Gradually diminishing trade winds will deliver just a few showers to windward areas of the smaller islands for the next day or so, while windward Big Island will continue to receive passing showers. Light and variable winds and mostly dry weather are expected statewide from Thursday night into Sunday. A weak front may move over the islands from the northwest late this weekend. This front is expected to bring little in the way of rainfall, however, and winds will remain fairly light.

Download HNN’s weather app for everything you need to plan your day.(Hawaii News Now)

A series of northwest and north-northeast swells are due later this week. Several small bumps along the way for north shores, but a medium north swell builds today and an overlapping swell arrives late Saturday, peaking Sunday into Monday. Surf should remain below high surf advisory criteria for the foreseeable future.

Get weather updates every ten minutes and your 7-Day First Alert Forecast on HNN Sunrise, weekdays with Guy Hagi and weekends with Billy V. Meteorologist Drew Davis has your forecasts on This is Now, First at Four and Hawaii News Now at 6:30. And join Chief Meteorologist Jennifer Robbins at 5, 5:30, 6, 9 and 10 and Ben Gutierrez on weekends.

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Top booster cuts university funding over shocking athletics ouster

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Top booster cuts university funding over shocking athletics ouster


HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – One day after the abrupt firing of University of Hawaii athletics director Craig Angelos, questions remain on exactly why he was suddenly let go.

The decision has upset many UH supporters and they’re making their feelings known.

Longtime UH supporter and businessman Mike Kawazoe founded the Rainbow Collective in April of last year as a way to raise funds for the department and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money for student-athletes.

In that time, the collective raised over $1 million, and Kawazoe applauds Angelos’ work in generating revenue and securing successful business ventures for the program.

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He says he was shocked at the firing and says no one from the university has reached out to him explaining the decision.

Related post: University of Hawaii abruptly fires athletics director Craig Angelos after 18 months

“I think that if there was an egregious reason for this to occur, I think that everyone would get on board and say we understand why this move was made. It’s been crickets,” he said.

“If you’re using performance as the excuse, that makes zero sense from anyone close to the program,” said Kawazoe.

Kawazoe said while the collective will still donate funds for individual student-athletes and NIL opportunities, he will personally no longer donate any money directly to the university.

“We’re at a critical juncture here as all of these moving parts are going on and transitioning with deals on the table,” he said. “The ink on the paper is not signed yet and details to be worked out. It’s a critical time. The timing could not be worse.”

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Learn more: Student-athletes, sports community incensed over ousting of UH athletics director

Attorney Jeff Portnoy is the former athletics committee chair for the university’s Board of Regents. He says this kind of sudden dismissal shows dysfunction, and can damage a program for years.

“It’s just another nail in what has been, unfortunately, the building of a coffin and under what circumstances, can Hawaii maintain a Division I football program when you have this kind of discord, which is being played out not only locally, but nationally? No one can say it’s a good thing,” he said.

The university has had five athletics directors since 2008. When the search for Angelos’ replacement begins early next year, Portnoy is worried that the current state of the department will ward off any serious candidates.

“How do you run a Division I football program with not having the NIL money? With not having the institutional money and playing on a football field where you’re lucky if you get 10,000 people? I don’t know who would take the job, but I’m sure there’s somebody out there that will think about it.”

We have yet to hear from UH President David Lassner on the decision, but he will be speaking with the Board of Regents Thursday at 9 a.m. at UH Manoa.

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The public is also welcome to submit testimony.



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Kamala Harris flees on vacation to Hawaii with Doug after devastating loss and with Europe bracing for WWIII

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Kamala Harris flees on vacation to Hawaii with Doug after devastating loss and with Europe bracing for WWIII


Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff have fled to Hawaii after her election loss and as Europe faces the possibility of war. 

The couple is on Kalaoa, which is on the west side of the big island of Hawaii. They are hunkered down in the sun after Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election.

The couple will be able to enjoy long walks on its scenic beaches as the shadow war looms over Europe.

Russia has signaled it will retaliate with full-scale nuclear war after Ukraine launched US-made missiles over the border on Tuesday. The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch ‘a significant air attack,’ closing the embassy and telling Americans to shelter in place.

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It’s unclear how long Harris and Emhoff will be on the island, which is the southernmost point of the United States.

The couple usually spends the Thanksgiving holiday on Hawaii. It’s unclear if Emhoff’s children or any of the Harris family members will join them.

Harris’ office did not respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiry. Local papers report she’s staying about a week.

Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff arrived on the big island of Hawaii on Tuesday evening

President Joe Biden has not publicly stated his plans for Thanksgiving. In the past, the Biden clan has decamped to Nantucket for the holiday.

The local papers say preparations are being made on the island for the presidential arrival and that the Secret Service has ordered 200-plus turkey dinners from a local restaurant.

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Harris, meanwhile, has retreated from the public eye since her devastating loss.

She appeared with Biden on Veteran’s Day at Arlington National Cemetery and then had lunch with him at the White House the next day. 

But she has been behind closed doors for a week 

Harris, however, is prepared to fly back from Hawaii to break any tie votes in the Senate if needed.

She delayed her trip in the event that she would be needed for votes in the Senate to confirm judges, one of her aides told NBC News. She is not expected to be needed as no major battle is expected over judicial nominees until December.

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President Biden is working to fill all the empty judicial openings in his final few months in office as he seeks to top the 234 judges Trump secured during his first term.

Harris, as vice president, is the president of the Senate and breaks any 50-50 votes.

Schumer has made it clear he’s determined to get the confirmations done before Biden leaves office and that he would use the lame-duck session – the period between the election and when the new president is inaugurated – to confirm more judges.

Republicans did the same in late 2020 as Trump was finishing his first term.

‘We are going to use the lame duck to confirm judges. And we’re going to do everything we can to get as many judges done as possible, trying to overcome the Republican obstruction,’ Schumer told NBC. 

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Harris and Emhoff are regular vacationers to Hawaii.  

She won Hawaii’s four electoral votes in the Nov. 5 election and received 60.6% of the overall count in the state versus 37.5% for Trump. 

The war between Russia and Ukraine is heating up

The war between Russia and Ukraine is heating up

Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine is heating up.  

Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Moscow would ‘react accordingly’ after Ukraine launched its latest strike.

In a dramatic escalation on the 1,000th day of the conflict, Kyiv launched six ‘ATACM’ missiles from an undisclosed location over the border into Russian territory. 

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Such attacks are expected to increase in frequency after Biden approved the use of ATACMS earlier this week. 

The strikes triggered a fiery explosion at a depot in Karachev, believed to be storing ammunition supplied by North Korea, around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border. 

At the same time, Vladimir Putin provocatively signed off changes to Russia’s laws on nuclear weapons to make it easier for them to be deployed against Ukraine in retaliation.

The amendments allow Russia to launch a nuclear attack in response to a conventional weapons strike – such as one by long-range missiles.

As the situation grows, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered his biggest hint yet that No.10 would authorize Ukraine to fire UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.

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Both Moscow and Kyiv appear to be stepping up their attacks ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration in January. 

Trump has said he wants to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine but has not said how leading to uncertainty about what his solution will be and what level of support he will give Ukraine. 



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