Friday, November 23, 2001
Rainbows travel to Riley Wallace is not afraid of the best six teams in the Big Island Basketball Invitational.
Hilo for Vulcans’
tournament
UH, Hawaii-Hilo go for the title
along with some big-name teams,
including LSU and WisconsinBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comIt's the seventh team -- NCAA Division II Hawaii-Hilo -- that he doesn't want to see.
Hawaii will play in UH-Hilo's tournament at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, partly as a favor to a former assistant, partly to take advantage of a rule that was made to benefit his team.
"I don't want to play any non-Division I teams unless I absolutely have to," Wallace said. "We get the exemption, the extra games. Plus we wanted to go to Hilo because that's Hawaii. If it helps him (Hawaii-Hilo head coach Jeff Law) by bringing more attendance, that's extra."
The exemption was dreamed up by the NCAA to give mainland teams an incentive to travel to Hawaii. Teams can take advantage of the exemption once every four years. Wallace's Rainbows get three extra games for "traveling" to Hawaii because they are playing by the existing rules.
But it's mostly because of Law, who served under Wallace for eight years, that the Big Island will get to experience Rainbow Warriors basketball this year. Law's loyalty to Wallace, the exemption and the chance to test his team against a tough field (despite the absences of Predrag Savovic, Luc-Arthur Vebobe and Tony Akpan) are the reasons Wallace is willing to take his team to Hilo.
But the underlying factor is that Law needed a drawing card.
"It meant a lot when he said, 'Yes, we'll come over,' " Law said. "It was like a personal favor and we are going to roll out the red carpet for him. If he needs anything, from five extra minutes of practice time to whatever, he will get it.
I learned a lot from Riley, I owe a lot to Riley."
And the feeling is mutual.
"He (Law) is going to win," Wallace said. "He works hard and he knows the game. He was an excellent choice for the program, because he loves Hawaii."
That the feeling is mutual between teacher and student may not be enough for Hawaii to run through another tournament, because this one includes Wisconsin, Louisiana State and Colorado State.
Hawaii will play Mercer in the first round today at 5 p.m., and should it get by the Bears' athletic center -- Will Emerson -- it will have to play the winner of South Carolina State and Colorado State.
Because Hawaii wants to stay away from the Vulcans, Hawaii-Hilo is on the bottom of the other bracket and has to face Wisconsin in the first round. Should the Vulcans pull off an upset in that game, they would have to play the winner between Louisiana State and Weber State.
First-round games
Colorado State (1-0) vs. South Carolina (0-1), noon: The Rams are led by 7-foot center Matt Nelson, who led the team in scoring with 16 points and 11 rebounds in an upset over Washington State on Wednesday. Sophomore Marcus Moore runs the point for Colorado State, while Andre Rivera handles the job for the Bulldogs. South Carolina State got the season started with a 79-65 loss to Tennessee Tech. Hawaii has won both its meetings against the Bulldogs and enjoys a 21-20 edge over the Rams. Hilo has never faced either team.Louisiana State (2-0) vs. Weber State, 2:30 p.m.: The Tigers are off to an undefeated start with wins over Campbell and Southern. Junior guard Colis Temple III broke out in the second game with 20 points and 14 rebounds. The other guard, Ronald Dupree, led the Tigers in the win over Campbell with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Weber State split its first two games, losing at Illinois State but rebounding to beat Concordia of Oregon. Jermaine Boyette poured in 31 points in the loss and had 16 in only 21 minutes in the win. Senior forward Chris Woods reached double figures in rebounds in both games. Hawaii won its only meeting with Louisiana State and leads the series with Weber State 4-2. Hilo has not seen either team.
Mercer (0-2) vs. Hawaii (2-0), 5 p.m.: Mercer is led by forward Scott Emerson, who is only able to play every other game because of nagging injuries. He will play against Hawaii, though. In his place, Justin Howard collected a double-double against Howard but contributed only six points and eight rebounds at Minnesota. Hawaii won its only meeting with the Atlantic Sun school -- 92-67 in 1993. Hilo lost its only meeting with Mercer.
Wisconsin (0-1) vs. Hawaii-Hilo (2-0), 7:30 p.m.: The Badgers got 20 points out of Devin Harris but lost their opener to UNLV. Senior forward Charlie Wills collected 10 rebounds in the loss. Wisconsin won its only meeting with the Rainbows and has never seen the Vulcans.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu