DALLAS >> The Hawaii coaches aren't only concerned with the season on this trip. They are also looking to the future. UH coaches keep an
eye on the future
during road tripBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comLast night, head coach Riley Wallace and two assistants headed out for Weatherford, about an hour's drive from Dallas.
They were visiting with Emigijus Lukosius, a 6-foot-6 forward for Weatherford Junior College. Lukosius was a high school teammate of current Rainbow senior Mindaugas Burneika.
"He's a nice guy and a good player," Burneika said of Lukosius. "I will recommend to him that he come to Hawaii."
The Rainbows are also interested in another Lithuanian product who is Weatherford's leading scorer. Vaidotas Peciukas, a 6-6 guard, scored 34 points in last week's win over Gayson.
Peciukas is a qualifier and could come to Hawaii as a sophomore, much like Micah Kroeger as a sophomore in 1995, but it is more likely that Hawaii will look at him as an incoming junior. Hawaii has four scholarships for next season.
If Lukosius were to sign with the Rainbows, he would become the third Weatherford alum to come to Hawaii, after Lithuanian Nerijus Puida, a senior on last year's Rainbow team, and Burneika.
Homecoming: Burneika was happy to be back in Texas this week. He said he truly enjoyed his stay at Weatherford, where the Coyotes won two conference titles.
"Texas is a happy place for me," the senior forward said. "When you're happy some place, you miss it, and I miss Texas. People ask how can I when there's nothing there. But the people were nice, we did a lot of family things with the community."
Burneika is 4-for-4 in conference titles in his four years in America. He won two at Weatherford and two WAC tournament championships with Hawaii.
Injury report: Predrag Savovic's right hand is still swollen, but it didn't affect his shooting in yesterday's closed practice.
Wallace had called the Dallas Mavericks' trainer to see if there was something the NBA team might recommend differently.
"Nothing against our trainer (Melody Toth), but we were looking at what they do at the next level," said Wallace.
Instead, associate head coach Bob Nash taped Savovic's ring and pinkie fingers the way that Nash had done when he was playing in the NBA two decades ago.
Upset special: ESPN.com has the Hawaii-Xavier game as one of its first-round upsets. According to the Web site, No. 10 seed Hawaii "has been on the road for weeks and isn't traveling from Honolulu. The Rainbow Warriors need only jaunt down from Tulsa to make the game. Hawaii is tougher with an international flavor and they have the shooters and the ballhandlers, especially Carl English, to beat the only rep from the A-10."
Aloha spirit: The Rainbows moved to their tournament hotel yesterday and were greeted by the hotel staff wearing plastic lei and green and white balloons in the lobby.
UH ticket office manager Edith Tanida arrived yesterday and said the Rainbows' allotment of 350 tickets was nearly gone. "We have just a few tickets left," she said.
Player of the year?: Xavier junior forward David West, named an Associated Press second team All-American Tuesday, is being mentioned for national player of the year next season if he stays in school his senior season.
"There's no doubt in my mind that if he would come back, he could be the best player in the country," Musketeer coach Thad Matta said.
Other AP second-team members who are underclassmen are Duke junior Mike Dunleavy, Stanford junior Casey Jacobsen and Indiana sophomore Jared Jeffries. Dunleavy and Jacobsen reportedly are eyeing the NBA draft.
A cut above: Xavier's first-year coach Matta was a standout at Hoopeston-East Lynn in Hoopeston, Ill. He was a two-year starter for the Butler Bulldogs after transferring from Southern Illinois.
Matta's career high at Butler was 21 points, which he scored against Xavier at the Cincinnati Gardens on March 2, 1989.
Rainbow connection: Xavier associate head coach Sean Miller was the senior point guard for Pitt in the 1990 Rainbow Classic. Hawaii upset nationally ranked Pitt 84-82 for the title.
Frequent flyers: In yesterday's Dallas Morning News, there was a map of the U.S. with all the NCAA Tournament sites and schools. It listed the distance each team had to travel.
Hawaii was the clear winner (3,784 miles) followed by UNC-Wilmington's trip to Sacramento (2,935).
The shortest trip? Pittsburgh, with former Rainbow assistant Jamie Dixon, didn't leave home for its South Region play.
Sign of the times: If there's an omen for Hawaii, it's the route the Rainbows have to take to the American Airlines Center. When leaving their hotel, the Rainbows will take I-35 and get off on Victory Avenue.
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