RAINBOW BASKETBALL
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Rainbows will lose their leading scorer in senior Julian Sensley, who averaged 17.6 points a game this past season.
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‘We never gave up’
The 'Bows can only look ahead to the future after a season of highs and lows
The prize of a postseason berth eluded this year's Hawaii basketball team. But the season in which fortune often looked the other way offered its own rewards for the Rainbow Warriors.
"We just kept fighting all year long. To me that was the most important thing, that we never gave up," senior co-captain Deonte Tatum said in summing up UH's 17-11 campaign. "Things weren't going in our favor but everybody still came out and worked hard, stayed late, and you can't ask too much more than that.
"As big as our hearts were, we just proved to everybody that we were still exciting to come watch, and I think it just showed how much we all love the game of basketball."
Over a season that began with the optimism of Twilight Ohana in October and ended with heartbreak at the Western Athletic Conference tournament in March, the Rainbows endured a grueling run that regularly tested their resolve.
Along the way they pulled off a landmark upset, dealt with shrinking numbers, and posted the program's seventh straight winning season.
"We had ups and downs," said forward Julian Sensley, also a team captain. "I think we did pretty good considering what we had to work with. For what we had, we did the best we could do and we'll take that."
The fully stocked Rainbows began the year with an upset of Michigan State, ranked No. 1 by one preseason publication. They lost two of their top returnees in the backcourt early in the season, yet positioned themselves for a high finish in the WAC and a postseason bid.
But when the 'Bows' leading big man, Ahmet Gueye, went down in the final week of the regular season, coach Riley Wallace's gang of nine lost its final two games; the telling blow coming in a one-point loss to New Mexico State at the WAC tournament as the 'Bows missed two shots just before the buzzer.
"After seeing the talent we had this year and how sometimes your fate isn't even in your hands ... it's just a shame to see that our season came to an end the way it did," junior guard Matt Lojeski said. "But we're not ashamed of it. We know we're a good team. It would be fun to be playing right now, obviously, but now it's just looking on to next year."
Said Wallace: "As a coach I got a lot of satisfaction out of (the season) because you're not expected to do a lot when you kept losing players. But they responded. So you've got a lot of respect for your team. They took coaching and worked hard. They competed every night."
UH loses four seniors in Sensley, Tatum, forward Matthew Gipson and center Chris Botez -- three starters and a top reserve -- and the coaches are busy filling five scholarships available for next season, Wallace's 20th and last in Manoa.
The newcomers will join a group of returnees and redshirts who should give the Rainbows a solid foundation next season.
"We lost four good, solid seniors that played a lot of minutes. That'll be missed and a lot of leadership will be missed as well, but we still have a lot of experience coming back," Lojeski said. "I just know I can get so much better with hard work and good effort. I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can improve."
Following is a look back at the 2005-06 Rainbows and a peek ahead at next season:
Point Guard
Tatum emerged as the team's floor leader during preseason practices and averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 assists in starting every game.
Freshman Hiram Thompson's 15-point explosion against Northwestern State in the Rainbow Classic was one of the season's highlight moments, while Dominic Waters was named WAC freshman of the year.
Looking ahead: UH loses Tatum, and Thompson is planning to embark on a two-year Mormon mission this summer. Waters started two games as a freshman and showed he can be a scoring threat. Junior John Wilder, who can play both guard spots, also returns.
Shooting Guard
UH's depth dissipated after Bobby Nash and Matt Gibson applied for medical hardships. Lojeski shouldered UH's perimeter scoring with 13.6 ppg and a team-high 56 3-pointers to earn a spot on the WAC's All-Newcomer team.
Looking ahead: With Lojeski, Gibson and Nash all slated to return, the Rainbows again appear stocked at two-guard. Lojeski and Nash will probably be in the mix at small forward as well.
Small Forward
Sensley closed his college career with his best year as a Rainbow Warrior and was named to the All-WAC first team. He increased his scoring average to 17.6 ppg and ranked second on the team in rebounding (5.8 per game), assists (87), steals (34) and 3-point goals (50).
Looking ahead: UH will have a big hole to fill in the lineup as Sensley pursues a professional career. He rarely left the court in his career and played a WAC-high 37 minutes per game this season.
Power Forward/Center
The Rainbows set a school record with 166 blocked shots, 38 more than the previous mark set in 1994. Gueye led the way with 65 blocks and Botez swatted 37 coming off the bench. Gipson started every game and was third on the team with 5.6 rpg and 28 blocks.
The Rainbows had limited depth after Milos Zivanovic left the team in December and struggled inside when Gueye suffered a knee injury in the final week of the regular season.
Looking ahead: If all goes well with Gueye's recovery from a torn ACL, the Rainbows should again be formidable in the post. Junior Stephen Verwers (6-foot-10) sat out this season due to transfer rules and provided a rugged inside presence during practices. The Rainbows also signed 6-foot-9 forward Alex Veit in the fall.
2005-06 Schedule
Date |
Opponent |
Result
|
Nov. 11 |
UH-Hilo (exhibition) |
W |
110-55
|
Nov. 19 |
Michigan State |
W |
84-62
|
Nov. 22 |
at UNLV |
L |
61-67
|
Nov. 26 |
Saint Louis |
W |
82-64
|
Dec. 6 |
UNLV |
W |
78-72
|
Dec. 10 |
at Wisconsin-Milw. |
L |
52-58
|
Dec. 17 |
Utah State* |
W |
69-59
|
Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic
|
Dec. 20 |
Loyola Marymount |
W |
66-63
|
Dec. 22 |
Colorado State |
L |
67-61
|
Dec. 23 |
Northwestern State |
W |
80-76
|
Dec. 27 |
North Carolina A&T |
W |
66-60
|
Dec. 29 |
Pennsylvania |
L |
55-58
|
Jan. 5 |
Nevada* |
W |
73-69 (OT)
|
Jan. 12 |
at Louisiana Tech* |
L |
62-65
|
Jan. 14 |
at New Mexico State* |
L |
84-87
|
Jan. 21 |
Fresno State* |
W |
73-65
|
Jan. 23 |
Boise State* |
W |
72-61
|
Jan. 28 |
at Nevada* |
L |
55-73
|
Jan. 30 |
at Utah State* |
L |
52-63
|
Feb. 2 |
Idaho* |
W |
81-61
|
Feb. 4 |
San Jose State* |
W |
83-68
|
Feb. 11 |
at Boise State* |
W |
73-64
|
Feb. 13 |
at Fresno State* |
L |
67-73
|
Feb. 18 |
Santa Clara |
W |
67-57
|
Feb. 22 |
at Idaho* |
W |
70-66
|
Feb. 25 |
at San Jose State* |
W |
61-60
|
March 2 |
New Mexico State* |
W |
61-56
|
March 4 |
Louisiana Tech* |
L |
48-51
|
WAC Tournament, at Reno, Nev.
|
March 9 |
New Mexico State |
L |
57-58 |
*Western Athletic Conference game