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RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Gift campaign to help
UH sports program

University of Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida announced today a challenge gift campaign to provide athletic scholarships for men's basketball and other UH sports.

Nearly $300,000 has already been raised over the past two years through the formation of five individual endowments and gifts. The challenge is for UH to raise an additional $300,000 via a campaign this month to next February.

The endowment chairman is Don Carroll of Oceanic Cable. UH coaches Riley Wallace, June Jones, Dave Shoji and Vince Goo comprise the steering committee.

The challenge was set up through the Withrow-Berry Men's Basketball Scholarship Endowment Fund, which has already provided $300,000 for scholarships for men's basketball.

Carolyn Berry created the fund, as well as the Riley Wallace Scholarship for postgraduate study by UH men's basketball players. Former Rainbow forward Micah Kroeger was the first recipient last year.

"We would like to thank the Withrow-Berry Men's Basketball Scholarship Endowment Fund in challenging us to reach this goal," Yoshida said. "It is the vision of the UH athletic department that all scholarship monies be funded through private gifts. This million dollar endowment sets the direction for attaining that goal."

Midnight Ohana coaches not set

Wallace said yesterday that the coaches for the Midnight Ohana have not yet been chosen.

The event, signifying the start of official practice, begins Friday night at 11:15 at the Stan Sheriff Center with carnival games. The men's and women's basketball teams will be introduced right before midnight, and a men's scrimmage will follow.

A True Ohana?

It happens every fall. When the new players arrive, there is a period of turf-setting in the practice gyms before the real practices begin, as veterans defend their ground and the rookies try to stake theirs. An unspoken pecking order begins to develop.

This happens without a whole lot of supervision from the coaches, since they are severely limited by NCAA rules as to how much and what kind of practice time they can spend with players.

This year, this phase occurred without too many bruised egos and with no one catching the next plane home.

And that's important for a team with players from all over the world.

Sophomore guard Lance Takaki said this group of players seems to genuinely like each other.

"It's been very friendly," he said. "There's been good camaraderie right from the start. That transition period was a lot easier this year than last year, even though there are lots of cultural differences.

"We all like to hang out and joke around," he added. "Good friendships are developing."

That might change for some players when competition for starting spots begins in earnest next week. Junior guard Mike McIntyre will have to battle for more minutes, but he said he's comfortable with his new teammates.

"To me it improves every year," McIntyre said. "This group of guys is real easy to get along with."

Glad to be here

Freshman center Haim Shimonovic said he is glad to be playing basketball in Hawaii and not serving in the Israeli army right now, where he worked in a commissary. He said he was released from his military commitment six months early so he could come to UH.

"The (Middle East) situation isn't as bad as it seems," Shimonovic said. "But of course, I am concerned about family and friends there. I talk to them at least three times a week."

Wallace said he's received raves from assistant coaches and players about Shimonovic's passing in pickup games and informal workouts. He looks to be a polished big man who can shoot well from outside, too.

Jeep story

A feature story about freshman guard David "Jeep" Hilton appeared in Sunday's New York Daily News. Hilton said the article exaggerated some parts of his homeless teen years in New York.

"I slept in the park sometimes, but never on the street like the story says," Hilton said yesterday. "The story misrepresented me."

Hilton and junior Ricky Terrell figure to battle for the starting point guard job.

"That's a really important one for us," Wallace said. "Point guard will be a big key this year."

Droppin' dimes

Senior forward Troy Ostler has put on about 10 pounds of muscle, and hasn't appeared to lose any mobility. ... Former guard Johnny White is back in school to finish work on his degree and will help as a volunteer coach. ... Wallace said there are around nine walk-ons candidates.

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Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin