Owsley gets his game on for UH

STORY SUMMARY »

P.J. Owsley is a gamer -- on the court and in the dorms.

San Jose State (8-7, 1-2 WAC) at Hawaii (5-10, 1-2) When: Today, 7:05 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: KFVE Ch. 5 Radio: KKEA 1420-AM

In the basketball sense, the Hawaii forward has worked through a leg injury in his senior season to give the Rainbow Warriors a veteran presence in the post.

And when not occupied with school or hoops, he'll kick back by plugging into the XBox he and roommate Alex Veit share. Even then, basketball remains the focus of their virtual duels, but he's looking to add to his collection where he can.

"It's kind of spendy," Owsley said. "You know the scholarship money is a little tight." » B5

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An XBox devotee, P.J. Owsley has spent enough time on the video game console to understand the frustration of being stuck with a bum controller -- when the character on the screen simply won't respond when he hits that faulty button.

It's a sensation that became all too real for Owsley early in his senior season with the Hawaii basketball team when a painful condition in his left calf hampered his mobility and effectiveness.

"It was definitely tough," Owsley said. "It was real frustrating when you can't move as well as you did before, and jump and run and do all the basic things in basketball. It makes it real frustrating having an injury like that where you know you can do better than you are."

A starter at power forward much of his first year at Hawaii, Owsley began this season on the bench, playing limited minutes in both practices and games early on to reduce the pounding on his legs. As the condition has gradually improved, he's been able to play longer minutes and returned to the starting group five games ago following center Stephen Verwers' season-ending injury.

He enters the Rainbow Warriors' Western Athletic Conference game against San Jose State tonight averaging 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. At 6-foot-8, he's now the Rainbows' tallest starter and is adjusting to facing bigger players in the post while making contributions that aren't always reflected in the numbers.

"The thing he has is experience on how to run the offense, some of the nuances some of the younger guys don't have yet," UH coach Bob Nash said. "He's a smart player. Sometimes it doesn't show up statistically, but being able to make reads with the ball, he does a better job."

Owsley was a steady member of the rotation last season, averaging six points and four rebounds in his first year at UH after transferring from Salt Lake Community College. His cerebral approach on the defensive end of the court was often overshadowed by the play of center Ahmet Gueye, one of the WAC's premier shot blockers the past two years, but did not go unnoticed by the staff.

"I thought last year, even though we had Ahmet, I thought he was a better post defender because he got off and helped and saw things a lot better," Nash said.

Heading into his final season of college ball, Owsley envisioned building on the progress he made as a junior, but the physical setback altered those plans.

After starting his career at Montana State, he redshirted his first season at Salt Lake Community College due to a knee injury and had he decided to shut it down this season he would have had to apply for a sixth-year exemption. Rather than leave his future in someone else's hands or undergo a procedure that might keep him off the court, he decided to let the condition improve through rest and treatment and work through the rough days.

"They were explaining there's a buildup of pressure in my muscle and it just makes it fatigue faster," Owsley said.

"It's way better than it was. It keeps getting better every day. They said it's real unpredictable, some days are going to be worse than others and those days I just have to work through it."

As his leg has improved, so has the touch on the mid-range jumper that was a staple of his game last season.

"I feel like I'm getting my lift back and hitting that shot," he said.

With the Rainbows (5-10, 1-2 WAC) still working to turn their season around early in the conference schedule, Owsley is also looking to make the most of his remaining time in a UH uniform.

He's on track to graduate this summer with an interdisciplinary studies degree focusing on physical fitness and sport and envisions a future in coaching once his playing career is over.

In whatever down time he has between school and basketball, Owsley and roommate Alex Veit can often be found facing off on the XBox, concentrating mostly on NBA games as well as using their own personas in the college version.

"Sometimes we play the NCAA one because we can play ourselves in the Stan Sheriff, see yourself on the video game," Owsley said. "I think (his ratings) could have been a little better. They were hating on me a little bit, but they're all right."