Friday, December 28, 2001
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There is a reason NCAA athletics is separated by divisions. Hawaii’s D-II schools
make noise against Division IBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comSome schools are not blessed with the support or funding that others are, and choose to compete with their fellow smaller fish. There is only one Duke, and only a few that can compete with the Blue Devils.
So it is in Hawaii, where four small college schools pick up the University of Hawaii's scraps and fight amongst themselves for the unofficial title of second best in the state.
Before this year, the thought of any Hawaii school competing with the Rainbows was just that: a thought never to be uttered aloud.
Whether any of Hawaii's four Division II schools could beat the 'Bows is doubtful, but a lot less doubtful than it was just a month ago.
In that 30-day span, Hawaii's small schools each competed in their Division I tournaments and proved that although they are not ready to win the WAC, they are able to compete with good Division I schools without embarrassing themselves.
It was not always the case.
"Just because it is Division I doesn't mean it's the best," Hawaii-Hilo head coach Jeff Law said. "A good Division II team is going to beat a bad Division I team, and I think it has changed in that way in just the last couple of years."
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Hawaii Pacific coach Tony Sellitto agrees, and thinks that the dilution of talent is a major reason why."There are a number of D-I schools who should not be D-I," Sellitto said. "With all of the players leaving for the NBA, once you get down to the types of players we recruit and lower Division I teams recruit, there is not that much of a difference."
Unless one of the small schools goes on to win Hawaii's second national championship in basketball, this year may be remembered as the season the Division II hosts stood up and let their big-name guests know that they are not coming to paradise for a vacation every winter.
The little dogs can play, and if you don't watch out, they will beat you.
It started this year as it seems to start every year --with Chaminade getting swept out of its Maui Invitational without winning a game.
The Silverswords begin each season in not only the toughest tournament in Hawaii but also the toughest early season affair in the country.
South Carolina predictably blew out Chaminade, and Seton Hall did the same, but the Silverswords scared Houston on the third day. Chaminade lost to the Conference USA school by only three points, 76-73.
In any other year, that would have been the highlight of the tournament season.
But Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii-Hilo had their tournaments, and slowly made the Silverswords' near miss an afterthought.
Hilo opened the Big Island Basketball Tournament in much the same way it usually does, losing to Wisconsin by 16 points. Hawaii Pacific did the same in its Thanksgiving tourney, losing to Big East power Notre Dame by 40.
But as each tournament moved into the weekend, there were no more Division II clubs. Hawaii Pacific did to Liberty what Notre Dame had done to it, beating the Flames by 35 points. Hilo lost to Louisiana State by only two points but came back the next day to get a Division I win, handling South Carolina State 87-69.
As impressive as the wins were, they were against teams that are a combined 6-17 this year. Beating the lower end Division I teams is one thing, beating national tournament contenders is quite another.
So Brigham Young-Hawaii held its tournament less than a month later, and knocked off not one but two teams with pedigrees that dwarf that of tiny Liberty.
The Seasiders entered their tournament whispering amongst themselves that anything less than an appearance in their tournament's final would be a disappointment, even though no Division II team had ever done so in a Division I tournament.
And BYUH pulled it off, beating Columbia by five points and following it up with what coach Ken Wagner called his team's best game thus far this year, a 94-84 beating of New Mexico State.
Not counting the losses to the Seasiders, the teams are a combined 13-7 this year.
But they are not 9-1, as Tulsa is.
Tulsa took it to the scrappy Seasiders 88-67 in the final, but did not rob them of their grit and desire.
"They made us look as bad as we made New Mexico State look the previous day," Wagner said. "It showed us that we have a lot to work on before we start to play in the league."
But one thing the wins did was further blur the line between Divisions I and II. Before, it seemed that the major difference between classes was athleticism.
Although the difference in athleticism is still there, sheer size is the major thing separating the good Division II schools and the good Division I programs.
"There will always be a difference," Wagner said. "But it is not much of a difference. They have bigger bodies, but we always feel that we can compete. It is not such a difference that we haven't always felt that we would not be able to capitalize on mistakes and win a few games."
Seeing their Seasiders compete with teams they will see on the television come March may have gotten BYUH faithful hyped up about the prospect of jumping to Division I and chasing national glory.
Not so fast, say Hawaii's coaches.
"Dreams are great," Sellitto said. "People talk, big but a win or two over a Division I school doesn't mean you have the resources to be a Division I school. I am happy just trying to be the best Division II school in America. If we can be the best for a long time and have an arena and everything else in place, I would think about it. You can't go just because you want to go, a lot of things go into it."
"Our school has its mission statement and being Division I is not part of it," Wagner said. "I think we are in the right place for the goals that our school has."
But that doesn't mean that others are not considering it, even though only two of the 15 teams that have made the jump in the past four years were able to finish with winning records last year and the least popular of them draws an average of 700 fans a game. Hawaii's small college attendance leader, Hilo, draws 617 per home game.
"We're thinking about it (moving to Division I someday) but I am trying to stay away from that conversation," Law said. "I just do what my bosses tell me, and I have enough on my plate in preparing for our next game."
Games moved: Hawaii Pacific's game with Brigham Young-Hawaii scheduled for Jan. 5 has been postponed and will be rescheduled. The Seasiders did not want to play on a Monday because they do not practice on Sundays and Sellitto was willing to accommodate them. BYUH's game tomorrow against Olivet Nazarene has been canceled.
Injury update: Hilo's Derek MgBeke will not miss any action despite receiving eight stitches in his forehead. Brady Hyde is still out with a broken right hand but is expected to return next week.
Hawaii's Division II schools enjoyed success in their Division I tournaments this year after years of failure. Following is how each fared in each of their Division I tournaments this year. Opponents are followed by conference, record so far this year and result: A good time
for the first timeChaminade at EA Sports Maui Invitational
South Carolina, Southeastern 8-3 L 61-74 Seton Hall, Big East 6-4 L 62-74 Houston, CUSA 5-5 L 73-76 Hawaii-Hilo at Big Island Basketball Tournament
Wisconsin, Big 10 5-6 L 62-78 Louisiana State, Southeastern 9-2 L 64-62 South Carolina State, Metro 4-8 W 87-69 Hawaii Pacific at Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic
Notre Dame, Big East 9-1 L 58-98 Liberty, Big South 2-9 W 81-46 Hampton, Metro 8-3 L 76-83 Brigham Young-Hawaii at Yahoo! Sports Invitational
Columbia, Ivy 7-4 W 70-65 New Mexico State, Sun Belt 6-5 W 94-84 Tulsa, Western Athletic 9-1 L 67-88