RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Hawaii’s backcourt
already a strong point

The Rainbows' "strength" will be in the backcourt this season.

That was evident in physical testing conducted on Riley Wallace's players last week by the athletic department's strength coach, Tom Heffernan.

Heffernan reported that Johnny White, the 6-foot senior point guard from Florida, topped the bench press testing at 300 pounds.

Mike McIntyre, a 6-3 sophomore shooting guard from Long Beach, Calif., had the second best bench press at 275 pounds.

McIntyre and 6-6 junior guard Predrag Savovic had the best overall marks in the four areas of testing.

McIntyre had what Heffernan said was an impressive leg press: 1,000 pounds for three repetitions. Savovic was next at 730 pounds in the leg press.

Savovic also turned in an impressive 5-minute, 2-second performance in the mile run. McIntyre followed him in at 5:57.

McIntyre had a distinct advantage over Savovic in the vertical leap - 39 inches to 28.5 inches.

Topping the vertical leap at 43 inches was 6-2 senior guard Geremy Robinson from Baton Rouge, La.

Walk-on guard candidate Oa McGee was second at 40 inches.

Point guard took no chances

White said that because he wasn't sure if Wallace would find a backup point guard, he wasn't taking any chances on his conditioning during the offseason.

He wasn't in bad shape last year but he admitted his body was tired after he averaged 36 minutes for 26 games. So White got himself a trainer and worked out four days a week back home in Orlando, Fla.

"I felt like I had to work hard because I wanted to be strong late in the season if I had to play that many minutes a game again," he said.

"Last year, I came into Division I not knowing what to expect. But I did more running this summer."

White said he's impressed by Carl English, the freshman point guard Wallace brought in to come off the bench and give him a breather.

"He has good control over the floor," said White. "You can see that he's used to leading a team because we're out here playing and he's directing everybody. He's going to be pretty good when he gets stronger and learns the offense."

White, Robinson and Alexander are the only returnees from last season.

Rainbow Classic pairings

Matchups for the Rainbow Classic, scheduled for Dec. 27-30 at the Stan Sheriff Center, have been set.

Colorado (Big 12) will play Villanova (Big East) at 5 p.m. to tip off the action on the 27th, and Hawaii takes on Bradley (Missouri Valley Conference) at 7:30 p.m.

On the 28th, Ohio (Mid-American Conference) will face Gonzaga (West Coast Conference) at 5 p.m. and Oregon (Pac-10) will meet Wake Forest (Atlantic Coast Conference) at 7:30 p.m.

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Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin