RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Two scholarships left,
but one may go soon

With two days until the deadline for enrollment, Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace has 11 scholarships committed and two available.

The 12th might soon go to 6-foot-8 forward Phil Martin, who played on the same touring Prep Stars Canada team this summer as 6-4 scholarship freshman point guard Carl English.

Martin, an Ontario native, is considered capable of helping the Rainbows right away. He has already enrolled in school but has yet to sign an institutional letter of intent.

Wallace doesn't mind having an extra scholarship unused as he nears the start of the NCAA season. He said it could come in handy if a desirable transfer becomes available.

Asked what position he'd like to give that last scholarship to, Wallace said he'd prefer another big man.

Right now, he is hoping Todd Fields, a burly looking 7-footer from St. Catharine College in Kentucky, can become the towering force the 'Bows lacked in the low post last season.

Fields, who arrived in town a couple of weeks ago, is strengthening a rehabilitated knee.

The word from sources on the mainland is that if Fields can regain full mobility on the knee, he will have been a "steal" for Wallace.

Alexander slims down

Marquette Alexander, a 6-8 senior who started at center and led the Rainbows in scoring (13.4 ppg) last season, pleased Wallace with the way he looked when he returned to campus last week.

"He's trimmed to 250 or 255 pounds," said Wallace, who didn't like the 285 Alexander played at in 1998-99.

"He wants to have a good senior year."

Alexander, and 6-0 senior point guard Johnny White, are the only returning starters from last season's 6-20 team.

Recruits enrolled

All of Wallace's new recruits have enrolled. These include Fields, English, whose trip from Newfoundland was the longest of all, 6-6 3-point ace Lane O'Connor, 6-8 Troy Ostler, 6-5 Nerijus Puida and 6-8 Bernard McIntosh.

Predrag Savovic, the Serbian forward who redshirted here last season after a season with Alabama-Birmingham, stayed in Honolulu through most of the summer, as did 6-3 sophomore guard Mike McIntyre and 6-2 senior guard Geremy Robinson.

All three played in the NCAA Summer League.

Wang likely on way

Wang Zhi-Zhi, the 7-foot-1 center who played for China in the 1996 Olympics, is more likely to accompany the Chinese National Team when it plays the Rainbows on Nov. 7 at the Stan Sheriff Center now that his government has barred him from signing with the Dallas Mavericks.

Wang was a second-round pick of the Mavericks.

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Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin