Sports Watch
Wallace liked what he saw as the college basketball season officially opened with the Midnight Ohana at the Special Events Arena with more than 5,000 late-nighters on hand to attend the coming-out party for both the Rainbow men's and women's teams.
Under NCAA rules, practice can't begin until Oct. 15. Hence the "Midnight Madness" around the country. Actually 12:01 a.m.
Wallace and former sports information director Eddie Inouye first decided to hold a similar outing at Hawaii nine years ago.
"We were averaging 1,700 a game the year before, so we thought it would draw interest in basketball," Wallace recalled.
Wallace was afraid nobody was going to show up, so he told his players, "There'll probably be nobody there but us. But like magic, the place (Klum Gym) was three-fourths full when we started."
In keeping with today's spirit of gender equity, Vince Goo's Wahine shared the spotlight for the second year in a row. And the Wahine weren't outdone by the men, either.
BJ Itoman, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, wowed the crowd with her outside shooting, matching Alika Smith's performance in a 3-point contest. And Brandy Ashby, a 6-2 redshirt junior, opened some eyes when she slammed in a two-handed dunk.
But the star of the long night was newcomer Anthony Carter.
CARTER, who's expected to provide the scoring power at guard this season, won the slam dunk contest with a couple of virtuoso moves that had the crowd, which included rap star Ice T, roaring with delight.
And the 6-2 junior college transfer who averaged 27.4 points per game for Saddleback Community College last year, showed he was for real in the scrimmage that followed, which was won by the Green team, 41-40, after a sudden-death third overtime.
"A.C. could be a star, but he showed he will include his teammates. As a scorer, he's a lot like (Anthony) Harris. And I'm hoping in a leadership role, he'll be a lot like Troy Bowe," Wallace said, referring to two of his former players.
"We have all the ingredients for a fun year," added Wallace, who hopes his Rainbows rebound from last year's disappointing 10-18 showing. "We got the quickness and the athleticism. I saw a lot of it out there."
"I had a lot of fun," said Carter, who says his goals are "having a good season and winning the WAC."
Besides Carter, Wallace feels returning starter Alika Smith and redshirt freshman Quentin Gallon can provide the 'Bows with three good 3-point shooters. Newcomer Aaron Curry also showed a nice shooting touch.
But the fun and games are over, said Wallace, starting his 10th year as the Rainbows' head coach. "Now we've got to go to work, especially defense and rebounding."
A lot of the latter will depend on 7-1 Seth Sundberg, 6-7 Eric Ambrozich, who's coming off a medical redshirt year, and newcomer Mike Robinson, a 6-8 junior college transfer who will remind some UH fans of Justice Sueing.
The Rainbows will open their season Nov. 26 against Texas-Pan American.
Meanwhile, Goo's Wahine will compete in the Western Athletic Conference for the first time after winning the Big West championship last year.
Goo also likes his team's talent and depth, so much so that he doesn't think anyone has won a starting job except 6-3 senior Kendis Leeburg.
The Wahine open their season Nov. 29 with a tournament that includes Stanford, a Final Four team.