‘Throw them in the fire’: UH men’s basketball opens practice with 19 new faces

News admin September 22, 2026 0 Comments

‘Throw them in the fire’: UH men’s basketball opens practice with 19 new faces

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the fall sports calendar heats up on the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s lower campus, another team is officially back to work.

The Rainbow Warriors men’s basketball team opened fall practice Monday afternoon, kicking off head coach Eran Ganot’s 12th season at the helm.

“Today’s a celebration that the season’s getting closer, but also you get more time to work with them,” Ganot said. “And that’s what it’s all about. The guys have done a good job. We obviously have a lot of new faces. That’s well documented. But we live for challenges. And we got a six-week period here before our tip-off on November 2nd.”

Last season, Hawaii won the Big West Tournament championship to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where the Rainbow Warriors lost to Arkansas in the first round.

Now, the ‘Bows face the challenge of defending their conference crown with a mostly new lineup featuring 19 newcomers — including 13 freshmen and six international transfers.

“Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to get this group of so many new faces together as quick as you can without losing who you are,” Ganot said. “This summer was, continue to bring in good people, which we feel like we’ve done. Number two, simplify our stuff. And number three, throw them in the fire so we can see where our talents are, and you can see how quickly they can pick things up.”

Among the familiar faces returning is guard Tanner Cuff, who missed last season with a knee injury suffered in exhibition play. Now fully cleared, Cuff said he has been steadily easing his way back onto the court.

“It’s been super fun to be with this group, play with these guys, and just to be back on the floor and playing up and down,” Cuff said. “This last week was my first week playing in some of the five-on-five, and ready to go for first practice today.”

Cuff noted that the local community, coaching staff, and fan base solidified his decision to stay with the program through his recovery.

“Immediately when it happened, I knew that I wanted to play for Hawaii,” Cuff said. “Wanted to play for the name on my chest and play for this community and these fans.”

The Rainbow Warriors are also welcoming transfer guard Chance Trujillo, who spent last season at Utah Tech and faced Hawaii as a visiting opponent. He said the island environment and recommendations from former teammates drew him out of the transfer portal.

“I love the environment when I played here, and I definitely could just see myself playing in this arena,” Trujillo said. “And after hearing my buddy Isaac Finlinson, his experience here we both played together at Snow [College]. He had nothing but great things to say about it. Hearing about Tanner Cuff and Isaac Johnson and all those Utah guys that I grew up watching play, and seeing them have great success here, I was obviously attracted to that.”

Fans can get their first look at the new squad at the program’s 10th annual tipoff event on Tuesday, Oct. 13, inside the Stan Sheriff Center’s SimpliFi Arena. , and organizers are still accepting donated items for the event’s fundraising auction.