GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Tonight is the last home game for UH seniors Ryne Holliday and Lance Takaki, who play on the scout team during practice.

Takaki and Holliday
UH’s unsung heroes

Practice is when
the senior walk-ons shine

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

For Lance Takaki and Ryne Holliday, game days aren't limited to weekends in the air-conditioned comfort of the Stan Sheriff Center.

When: Today, 7 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: Live, KFVE-TV Radio: Live, 1420-AM Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu Tickets: Lower Level, $15/$16; Upper Level (adult) $11/$12; Upper Level (student, UH) $7; Super Rooter $8

Instead, every practice in the steamy confines of Gym II in the UH Athletic Complex represents an opportunity for the Hawaii basketball team's senior walk-ons to shine.

"Their practices are like their games, so they take it real seriously," said Mark Campbell, the Rainbows' starting point guard. "We owe them a lot for our success, because they're the ones that prepare us for the games and they spill it out there on the practice court."

Takaki and Holliday may not have lit up the Sheriff Center's scoreboard during their careers, but they've left their mark on the program with their energy in the practice gym.

For four years, Holliday and Takaki have toiled with the Rainbow scout team -- known as the Lizards -- a vital, if largely invisible, element of the program.

They arrive early to go over the opponent's schemes, then simulate those plays in practice to prepare the first team for the upcoming game, earning them the admiration of their coaches and teammates, if not the adulation of the crowd.

"Every day they come out and work probably twice as much minutes as most of the guys," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "They can truthfully say they were on a Division I team and played."

Tonight's Western Athletic Conference game with UTEP and the Senior Night ceremonies that follow provide a symbolic end to Holliday, Takaki and Campbell's Hawaii basketball careers.

But for Takaki and Holliday, the absence of their daily practices will leave a bigger void than the thrill of game nights.

"About two or three weeks ago we started counting the days," Holliday said. "It was in my mind that when we came back from this last road trip we only have three (practices) left. It's a big deal for me.

"It's not so much the games that we're going to remember, it's coming here every day together."

Holliday, a native of Belleville, Ill., started his career at Mississippi, but transferred to Hawaii after one year.

He struggled against the scholarship players his first two years, but has since developed into a valuable leader of the Lizards.

"He's a much better player today than he was when he came," Wallace said. "We were talking the other day and said if we had problems and one of the guys isn't doing it, bring Ryno in. He knows everything, he can do it, he'll play hard and he won't cause you any problems."

Holliday was pressed into action late in the first half of Thursday's 68-65 win over Boise State when foul trouble depleted the Rainbows. He played the final two minutes of the half, and although he didn't score, his effort drew praise from his teammates as well as Wallace.

"He's a walk-on, but he went out there and did the job," center Nkeruwem Akpan said after the game.

Takaki was an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II standout during his high school days at Mid-Pacific Institute. At 5-foot-4 he considered himself a long shot to make the UH squad, but he tried out anyway and simply kept showing up for practice day after day.

"I didn't know what I was doing, I was just coming out and trying to do my thing," he said. "I felt I was going to get cut because I'm so little. But coach took a chance on me and I'm glad he did because he made me live out my dream."

Holliday and Takaki have been mainstays on the scout team since that freshman year, when they broke in with current starters Phil Martin and Carl English, who redshirted that season.

Both said having another walk-on there to share in their triumphs and struggles helped them stick with it despite knowing their playing time would be limited to mop-up duty at the end of blowouts.

"It was me and him together, there was a common guy going through the same things," Holliday said. "We came at the same time as Carl and Phil. They've been here for four years, but they don't go through the same things we went through."

Said Takaki: "Honestly, that guy pulled me through. ... He's been like a stable rock where I can come in and always know I'm going to have a good time."

Although both players take their scout team roles seriously, it doesn't mean turning practice into a joyless experience.

"They're comedians and real energetic," Campbell said. "They try to keep everything fun."

Both also take their school work seriously, a requirement of Wallace's for walk-ons to play a major role in practice. Holliday will graduate this semester with a degree in Management Information Systems. Takaki is set to earn his communications degree in the fall.

Takaki and Holliday are only the sixth and seventh players to complete four-year careers during Wallace's tenure at UH and the first walk-ons to go through all four years. During that run they've been to the NCAA Tournament twice and own two WAC championship rings.

But it's in the practice gym that they've established their legacy as Rainbow Warriors.

"I want to be a role model to younger kids," Takaki said. "If they want to do anything, it doesn't have to be basketball, I hope I can inspire them to try."

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WAC Standings CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PCT. GB W L Fresno State 13 4 .765 -- 20 7 Tulsa 11 6 .647 2 18 9 Nevada 11 6 .647 2 16 11 Rice 10 7 .588 3 18 9 SMU 10 7 .588 3 15 12 LaTech 9 8 .529 4 12 13 HAWAII 8 9 .471 5 16 10 Boise State 6 11 .353 7 12 15 San Jose State 4 13 .235 9 7 19 UTEP 3 14 .176 10 5 22 TODAY Louisiana Tech at SMU Fresno State at Rice Boise State at San Jose State Tulsa at Nevada UTEP at Hawaii Probable Starters UTEP (5-22, 3-14 WAC) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Chris Craig (Jr.) 6-1 8.3 2.5 3.6 G Omar Duran (Jr.) 5-8 10.1 2.4 1.7 G Giovanni St. Amant (Fr.) 6-3 13.4 3.0 2.4 F Justino Victoriano (Sr.) 6-7 7.6 8.5 0.8 F John Tofi (Fr.) 6-8 13.3 5.9 1.1 HAWAII (16-10, 8-9) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Mark Campbell (Sr.) 6-4 5.7 3.2 6.2 G Michael Kuebler (Jr.) 6-5 11.7 2.7 2.1 G Carl English (Jr.) 6-5 19.4 5.6 2.3 F Phil Martin (Jr.) 6-8 11.3 5.6 0.7 C Nkeruwem Akpan (So.) 6-8 7.2 4.3 1.3 Notes: UTEP is coming off a 74-73 overtime loss at San Jose State on Thursday. Hawaii edged Boise State 68-65. ... English is second in the WAC in scoring with 19.4 points per game. SMU's Quinton Ross is first at 19.6. ... Campbell leads the conference with 160 assists and in assist/turnover ratio of 2.59. ... Victoriano leads the WAC in rebounding with 8.5 per game. ... St. Amant set a UTEP freshman record by scoring 26 points in the Miners' 64-52 loss to UH on Jan. 2 in El Paso, Texas. ... Thomas Gehrke joined the Miners on Jan. 25 and averages 8.4 points off the bench. He was a member of the Brazilian junior national team in 2000. ... Senior forward Roy Smallwood was expected to lead the Miners this season, but suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 18. ... UTEP leads the series 30-16. ... UTEP coach Billy Gillispie is in his first season. UH coach Riley Wallace is in his 16th season.

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