THIS is the time of the year when I try to avoid University of Hawaii men's basketball coach Riley Wallace. It's the off-season when he can finally break out his clubs and play golf again. I know he's itching to get me on the golf course. Riley’s feeling good
about next seasonMore so because -- in a moment of delirium after the victory over Kansas -- I told him that he didn't have to give me strokes anymore. I got carried away and Wallace is making sure I keep my word.
Actually, I don't mind losing a few bucks at Nassau to him. It's a small price to pay.
Wallace deserved it for making a lot of Rainbow basketball fans happy. A record 211,520 went through the Stan Sheriff Center turnstiles this season. And the Rainbows had back-to-back 21-win seasons -- their first since the days of the Fabulous Five.
But what can Wallace do for an encore next season? After all, he'll no longer have the Dynamic Duo of Anthony Carter and Alika Smith, who accounted for more than 50 percent of the scoring the past season.
Surprisingly, the big redhead is really upbeat about next season.
"I'm looking forward to next year already," Wallace told the Honolulu Quarterback Club at yesterday's luncheon. The season opener will be Nov. 15 against the California Golden Bears.
The first basketball, though, will be bounced at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the Midnight Ohana that will officially begin the first practice.
THE reason for Wallace's optimism is that the Rainbows had maybe their best recruiting class ever, even though highly touted JaQuay Walls decided to take his point-guard talents to Colorado.
"He was concerned about his playing time here," said Wallace. Which, when you think about it, says a lot of UH's recruits.
Two in particular are incoming point guard Johnny White, the Sun Coast (Fla.) Conference player of the year, and 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward Marquette Alexander, who averaged 26 points and 14 rebounds a game for City College of San Francisco.
Now if Michael Robinson can get an NCAA approval to play another season and 7-foot center Terry Sellers backs up his verbal commitment with a written one, there will be no living with Wallace next season.
Sellers' coach and athletic director at Compton College have assured Wallace that the big guy will come.
If Sellers does and the Rainbows can land a perimeter shooter, Wallace says that then he will admit it's the best recruiting class he has ever had at Hawaii.
"The fans will love Johnny White," Wallace said. "He's not an AC but he's got all the intangibles to be a great point guard. He's unselfish and can handle the pressure."
IT'S interesting how a mother's influence can work both ways.
Alexander's mom wanted him to play for the hometown USF Dons. But Alexander said that it was his decision to make. Now his mom and grandma, who both hate to fly, are thinking about overcoming their fear of flying.
As for White, his father works for Delta Airlines in Florida. So he and his mom flew here to watch the Rainbows beat Arizona State in the National Invitation Tournament opener.
"We wouldn't have got him if she weren't here," Wallace said. "She got excited, too, and loved it here."
Wallace is working on getting Michigan State for the Rainbow Classic. He thinks if the Spartans can change the date of their Jan. 3 Big Ten opener, they will come.
"A lot of conferences are opening their seasons earlier now," Wallace said. With that in mind, there's talk of eventually moving the Rainbow Classic to before Christmas instead of the usual last week in December.
"We've talked to ESPN and that's a possibility," Wallace said.