HERE it is the middle of football and volleyball seasons, Major League Baseball is staging its nearly annual championship of North America and the National Hockey League season begins tonight. Basket’Bows are the
hottest ticket in townSo, naturally, the hottest ticket in town is Rainbow basketball.
Riley Wallace's team doesn't play its first game until Nov. 28, but already the excitement is building. Season-ticket buyers were lined up overnight at the Special Events Arena a couple days ago. Big things are expected from a team that won 21 of its 29 games last season and generally captured the heart of a town desperately seeking a winner in one of UH's major men's sports.
"I was downstairs just now and the phones were ringing," Wallace said yesterday afternoon.
He said the goal is to sell 6,200 season tickets, which should be reachable. Add on 600 to 800 complimentary tickets that go to sponsors and that's 7,000 seats gone for every game before they even open the doors.
It's been a long time coming for Wallace, who enters his 11th season as the Rainbows' head coach. He's had good teams before, but never one that has generated this kind of attention -- locally and nationally.
"This is what it's all about," Wallace said. "And you know what's good? (People) like this team. The vibes coming out of the arena are as good as the vibes coming in."
Wallace said he's hopeful that the Rainbows' season-opening tournament sells out. The field includes Indiana and Bob Knight, and a what should be a very good Illinois State team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season.
Hawaii plays Indiana the first night. If they win that one, people on the mainland will take notice even more than they have already. Wallace said he welcomes the fact that his team is drawing raves in some college basketball preview magazines.
"I like the idea that the polls have included us," Wallace said. "Some coaches don't like them. I don't mind the polls as long as you can get your kids not to believe them.
"Obviously, we didn't have that a year ago, because we were the new kid on the block."
Now, the test will be to back up the hype, something that didn't get accomplished the last time expectations were this high.
The 1994-95 team began the year with a load of talented players and rolled into an early season home game against North Carolina unbeaten. The 'Heels whupped the tar out of Hawaii that night. The team struggled in the Western Athletic Conference and hit bottom when forward Justice Sueing false cracked Utah's Keith Van Horn on national television during the WAC tournament.
This year's team, anchored by guards Anthony Carter and Alika Smith, has an entirely different make-up than the '94-'95 group, Wallace said.
"This team is much more talented as a team, if you know what I mean," Wallace said. "The other team had more talent, maybe, but they didn't play as well together."
A clear case of the sum being greater than the parts.
Speaking of sums, the Wahine basketball team certainly has its together. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced its Academic Top 25 Honor Roll yesterday and the Wahine are ranked 11th in the nation, based on team grade-point average.
Coach Vince Goo's squad had a 3.323 GPA for the 1996-97 school year, tops in the WAC and just behind St. John's University and ahead of Northwestern, which is ranked 14th, and Harvard, which is No. 15.
Pretty fast company.
"Right now, no one wants to be the low person," Goo said. "They go out and fight for playing time and they do the same thing in the classroom."
Smart. Very smart.
