Tatum is the
Rainbows’ spy for
Bracket Busters game

Deonte Tatum will play dual roles for the Hawaii basketball team in the days leading up to the Rainbow Warriors' ESPN Bracket Busters game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 19 -- point guard and advance scout.

ESPN Bracket Busters Saturday Game times to be announced Feb. 8 >> UW-Milwaukee at Hawaii >> Buffalo at Fresno State >> Vermont at Nevada >> Murray State at Rice >> UTEP at Pacific >> Illinois State at UW-Green Bay >> Wichita State at Miami (Ohio) >> Southern Illinois at Kent State >> Drexel at Ball State >>Western Michigan at Northern Iowa >> Arkansas-Little Rock at Bowling Green

Tatum grew up in Milwaukee and shared the court with most of the members of the current UWM roster at some point. His cousin, forward Joah Tucker, is the Panthers' second-leading scorer, and Tatum nearly enrolled at the school last summer.

So he knows better than most UH players what to expect when UWM visits the Stan Sheriff Center this month.

"I know their whole team. I know them well," Tatum said. "It's going to be pretty much even. They're talented, they've got a lot of seniors and juniors like us. They've got a team that was in the (NCAA) Tournament two years ago, so it's not going to be a cakewalk."

The matchup between the Rainbow Warriors and Panthers was officially announced yesterday, although Tatum and Tucker had been talking about the prospect of meeting on the court for the past few weeks.

"He's the one who called me and updated me early," Tatum said. "He called me and let me know it was going to be a possibility."

If he hadn't gotten a call from UH coaches late last summer, Tatum might have been playing against the Rainbows on Feb. 19.

After earning an associates degree from Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College, Tatum decided to give UH a look a week after visiting the UWM campus and eventually signed with the Rainbows.

Not only does the Bracket Busters game give Tatum a chance to play against his hometown school, it'll likely give him a trip back home next season.

The Bracket Busters arrangement calls for home teams to play a return game on their opponent's home floor the following season.

So Tatum and incoming UH recruit Matt Lojeski, who hails from Racine, Wis., are looking forward to a trip to Milwaukee during next season's nonconference schedule.

"That's going to be fun, a lot of people are going to come see that game," Tatum said. "A lot of people haven't seen me play in a while, so everybody's going to come check it out."

The UH-UWM game is among 11 Bracket Busters games that will be televised. Six games will be shown nationally on ESPN or ESPN2, the other five will be televised regionally on ESPN Full Court. The network will announce which games will get national exposure and the game times on Feb. 8.

Five Western Athletic Conference schools were picked out of a pool of 64 teams for the 11 televised contests.

The other TV games involving WAC teams are Vermont at Nevada, Murray State at Rice, and UTEP at Pacific. UTEP heads to the Sheriff Center to play the Rainbows the Monday after the Bracket Busters game.

"The WAC is very fortunate to have five teams in the field of 22," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.

"The pairing will give all five schools the opportunity to improve their postseason chances."

UWM enters this week's action at 15-5 overall and 8-2 in the Horizon League. The Panthers played in the 2003 NCAA Tournament and last year's National Invitation Tournament, where they beat Rice before losing to Boise State.

The trip to Hawaii comes in a soft spot in the Panthers' schedule. UWM plays Butler on Feb. 16, flies to Honolulu for the game that Saturday, and doesn't have another game until Feb. 26.

"We're excited, what a great reward for our kids," Panthers coach Bruce Pearl was quoted as saying on the UWM Web site.

"There is always concern about the toll a long trip like this can take on your team, but our schedule is such that we don't play for a week after the trip. Usually the trip becomes a problem on the way back, but we have a nice amount of time to readjust."

If UH can gain one of the ESPN or ESPN2 slots, it would be the 'Bows' second national television appearance this season. Their New Year's Day game at Nevada was shown on ESPN2.

The game is being promoted as "Sellout Saturday" by the UH athletic department, which has designated it as a "Green Out" in which fans are encouraged to wear green shirts.

Notes: The five WAC schools not selected for Bracket Busters games will play nonconference games on Feb. 19. Those games are, Weber State at Boise State, New Orleans at Louisiana Tech, San Jose State at Drake, SMU at Toledo, and Northern Arizona at Tulsa. ... UH's WAC game at San Jose State on Saturday will be televised by SportsWest and shown locally on KFVE.