Wednesday, April 14, 1999

Rainbows’
net gain

The UH men's basketball team
expects to receive two letters
of intent; the Wahine one

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

The Hawaii men's basketball team is expected to receive letters of intent today from two junior college forwards.

One of the two letters due in today will be from 6-foot-5, 200-pound Weatherford College (Texas) guard/forward Nerijus Puida.

The Lithuanian national averaged 18.8 points a game. He was player of the year in the North texas Junior College Athletic Conference and Region 5.

The other letter of intent should come from 6-8 Salt Lake Community College forward Troy Ostler, who led his conference in blocked shots.

Puida said head coach Riley Wallace and assistant coach Jackson Wheeler told him he would probably be used as a shooting guard or a small forward.

With Puida, the Wahine get a bonus as his girlfriend, 6-4 all-conference forward Dainora Umbrasaite, has agreed to sign with the Wahine.

"We made up our mind after we got back to Texas (n Monday)," said Umbrasaite, who averaged 21 points.