Verwers is final piece in
UH’s recruiting class

The final member of the Hawaii basketball team's recruiting class represents an investment in the future for the Rainbow Warriors.

Stephen Verwers, a 6-foot-10 forward at Colorado State, has committed to transfer to UH and join the Rainbows this fall. However, he won't be eligible to play until the 2006-07 season due to NCAA rules requiring players to sit out a year after transferring from another Division I school.

He will be a junior and have two years of eligibility with the Rainbows after the upcoming season.

Verwers played in all of CSU's 28 games and started nine this season, but saw limited minutes. The sophomore averaged 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in just under 10 minutes per game for the Rams, who went 11-17 overall and 3-11 in the Mountain West Conference.

He requested and was granted a release from his scholarship after the season.

Although he was home schooled, Verwers was a highly touted player coming out of Weatherford, Texas, and signed with Colorado State in the fall of 2002.

He figures to help the Rainbows reload in 2006 as UH will lose four big men after next season. Forwards Julian Sensley and Matthew Gipson and centers Chris Botez and Milos Zivanovic are entering their senior seasons. UH signed Ahmet Gueye, a 6-8 forward from Salt Lake Community College, in the fall.

Verwers completes UH's six-player recruiting class. He joins Gueye and guards Matt Lojeski, Hiram Thompson, Dominic Waters and John Wilder in next season's group of newcomers. Gueye, Lojeski and Wilder will be juniors. Thompson and Waters are incoming freshmen.