Rainbow recruiting on track

By Mike Fitzgerald
Star-Bulletin

The names and schools can't be discussed specifically, according to NCAA recruiting rules.

But UH assistant coach Jackson Wheeler, the Rainbows' primary recruiter, and head coach Riley Wallace, are optimistic as the April 9 signing date approaches.

"It's going all right right now," Wheeler said yesterday. "But we're after a lot of big guys, who are the hardest hit late.

"I feel good about one 7-footer, but we need to have two big guys, which is going to be hard. There is always a shortage of tall guys."

Wheeler said he is confident of signing a guard and a small forward -- and called them "real good players."

The guard is rumored to be Chad Hook of Marshalltown (Iowa) College.

"Having a winning season has helped us," Wheeler said of UH's 21-8 finish. "But we're well-respected anyway."

Wallace said he will make four or five home visits on his way back from the Final Four.

"It looks good on the board right now," Wallace said. "We've got some good guys lined up."

FRESNO STATE WANTS OUT: Fresno State has asked the University of Hawaii at Hilo to get out of the Big Island Invitational basketball tournament next season in order to get a one-game $175,000 guarantee and play Arkansas the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

It will be part of a doubleheader in Phoenix at the America West Arena with Clemson and Kentucky.

To get out of the commitment with Hilo, which has an all-NCAA tournament field of Stanford, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Montana, Valparaiso, Butler and Hilo, the Bulldogs offered to find a replacement.

It could be fellow WAC member New Mexico, which is trying to get out of a Thanksgiving Puerto Rico tournament that might lose its NCAA exemption because it is hosted by Division III Mayaguez.

"New Mexico would be OK for us, but they don't travel as well as Fresno State," said Bill Trumbo, UH-Hilo's athletic director.

He prefers Fresno State, which has a lot more appeal locally because of its coach, Jerry Tarkanian. For that reason, Trumbo may have to exercise the forfeiture clause with his signed contract with the Bulldogs because of a potential loss in revenue.

"We'll have to wait and see," Trumbo said.

UH KNEE NEWS: There was good and bad news on the medical front for the Hawaii men's team this week.

Junior guard Alika Smith -- the team's second-leading scorer last season -- will not have arthroscopic knee surgery, as had been expected.

But junior forward Micah Kroeger, also a starter for the Rainbows, will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee April 12 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Kroeger is expected to fully recover.

FINAL STATS: Honorable mention All-American Anthony Carter was the UH scoring leader this season, finishing with an 18.7 average.

Smith was second at 17.9 and Kroeger third at 10.0. Eric Ambrozich was fourth at 9.4 points per game.

All four of those players started all 29 games.

Seth Sundberg, the team's leading rebounder with a 7.9 average, started 19 of 19 games before being lost for the rest of the season with a lacerated spleen.

Carter also led UH with 6.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

The Rainbows averaged 75 points per game, while holding their opponents to 69.

SENIORS LOOK AHEAD: Graduating UH senior centers Danny Furlong and Sundberg, who have used up their Division I eligibility, will hit the professional tryout camps in the next several months, according to UH head coach Riley Wallace.

Sundberg is back working out, but he had not recovered in time to attend the upcoming NBA tryout camp in Portsmouth, Va.

"They would have invited him if he was healthy, but they didn't want to take up a spot for someone else," Wallace said. "But he should get invited this summer."

Furlong will likely try out to play in Europe, Wallace said.

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Bill Kwon contributed to this report.