[ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]
Blackett back home
for first roundThe Rainbows have covered
30,720 miles this season, and
hope to add to it in the NIT
LOGAN, Utah >> Talk about taking the long way home.
Hawaii at Utah State
What: First round of NITWhen: Today, 4 p.m. Hawaii time
Where: Logan, Utah
TV: Live, Oceanic Cable (Ch. 16); replay at 8:30 p.m.
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Jeff Blackett moved from his Utah home to Hawaii to pursue a Division I basketball career and traveled the nation with the Rainbow Warriors only to find himself back in his home state for the postseason.
The UH forward grew up in Ogden, about a 40-minute drive down the road from Logan where the Rainbow Warriors (19-11) face Utah State (25-3) in a National Invitation Tournament first-round game today.
"I thought when I signed with Hawaii I wouldn't be able to play any of the Utah schools, which was something I wanted to do," Blackett said. "So it's a dream come true to be able to come back."
Blackett's opportunity to play in front of close to 40 friends and family members today required a day-long odyssey from Honolulu to Logan for the Rainbows on Monday.
The team gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7:30 a.m. to head to the airport for a 10 a.m. flight to San Francisco. After landing in California, the traveling party picked up its gear and loaded into four vans for a drive to Oakland. That was followed by an 8 p.m. (Pacific time) flight to Salt Lake City, followed by an hour-and-a-half bus trek through the mountains.
By the time the team pulled into its hotel in Logan, it was close to 1 a.m. (Mountain time).
"We've been traveling so much all year, it doesn't make a difference now," said Blackett, who played with Utah State senior Chad Evans at Weber High School.
"It's worth it, sometimes you have to do what it takes. Our sprits are still high, it didn't take much out of us. We slept on the plane, so it's not a big deal."
But arduous travel itineraries are nothing new for a team that had already covered 30,720 air miles before embarking on its fourth consecutive postseason trip.
The team has spent a little more than a week at home over the last month. The 'Bows had a three-game road trip that included stops at Boise State, Southern Illinois and Texas-El Paso in the span of a week.
After two games at the Sheriff Center, the team turned around and went back to the mainland for games at Nevada and Fresno State. They stayed in Fresno the following week for the McCaffrey Western Athletic Conference tournament before returning to Honolulu after losing in the quarterfinals.
The 'Bows had been home a little more than a day when word arrived that they would be heading to Utah for their NIT opener.
But unlike the other trips, Blackett felt more at home when he arrived than when he left Hawaii.
"It was really neat just seeing something familiar," he said.
