By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Micah Kroeger (13) and Anthony Carter celebrate
the Rainbows' upset victory over No. 2 Kansas in the
championship of the Rainbow Classic on Tuesday. It was
the UH's fourth tournament title this season and should
land them in the Top 25 in the national polls.
Ringing in
the new year
UH is besieged by
By Cindy Luis
phone calls and congratulations
after upsetting Kansas
Star-BulletinRiley Wallace spent last night just like he does every New Year's Eve -- with friends and neighbors at the annual street party on their Hawaii Kai cul-de-sac. Understandably, the University of Hawaii men's basketball coach was a little reluctant to bid aloha to 1997. It had been a very good year.
Some nine months ago, the Rainbows captured a share of the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division title, the team's first conference championship since joining the league in 1979-80. But Hawaii faltered over the last few weeks of the season without injured center Seth Sundberg and was blown off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Banished to the NIT, the Rainbows picked up an impressive victory over Oregon at the Special Events Arena. Even though the season ended with an emotionally exhausting loss at UNLV, four starters returned as seniors with a goal of finishing their careers in style.
They haven't disappointed themselves or the record number of season-ticket holders. Through 11 games, the Rainbows have won four tournament titles and recorded quality wins over Indiana, Illinois State, Long Island, Nebraska and No. 2 Kansas.
Following its stunning win over the Jayhawks in the Rainbow Classic championship Tuesday night, Hawaii is sure to find its way into the national polls when they are released next week. It would be UH's first Top-25 ranking since Jan. 8, 1974.
There is little danger of a letdown for Saturday's game with Norfolk State, in its first year in Division I. All Wallace has to say to his players: "Arkansas State."
The one loss of the season came to Arkansas State when Alika Smith was sidelined with a sprained toe, a painful reminder of how reliant this team is on each member.
"It was a great win for us," Anthony "AC" Carter said after the Kansas victory. "But there are so many games left. We're still playing them one at a time."
The Rainbows got a well-deserved day off yesterday, but it was not a morning for sleeping in. There were congratulatory phone calls from family and friends, and a breakfast full of national television coverage from ESPN, CNNSI and CNN Headline News.
On the Internet, people were chatting up the Rainbows on ESPNet and CNNSI On-line and leaving heated commentaries on the various message boards: "Rock-Chalk Jayhawk hmmmm Rock Chalk All-Talk;" "Kansas loses without its best player. So what?" "Erin Galloway, the next Chris Webber;" "Hawaii finds gold at Rainbows' end;" "Rainbows: New top dawgs in the WAC."
The Rainbow basketball office was swamped with phone calls, faxes and e-mail from coaches, fans and poll-voters. The sports information department began receiving heavier-than-normal requests for interviews for national radio talk shows and from mainland television networks that will be covering Hawaii road games.
At home, Wallace said he spent a restful night, albeit abbreviated. The calls came from all over the country, from former players and former Hawaii coaches Red Rocha, Bruce O'Neil and Larry Little.
Brunch included replaying the game tape, with Wallace raving about Galloway's monster block of 7-footer Eric Chenowith's shot.
"It was unbelievable how high (Galloway) got up," Wallace said. 'There's been a lot of calls. They finally saw what this team is all about."
Last night, Wallace popped open a bottle of champagne. It promises to be another vintage year.
1997-98 Rainbow Men’s Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
