The UH-Hilo basketball team lost one of its best players in Sasa Vuksanovic, who shot over 50% from the field, but upgraded the depth at guard with an influx of diverse skill-set athletes, a reason PacWest coaches picked the Vulcans fifth in the preseason poll.
Vuksanovic, who’s playing pro ball in Portugal, was a low-post presence, who could drop-step, score with both hands, and tag opponents with fouls. The 6-foot-10 center was a nice bailout when plays broke down in half-court sets.
Still, the offense should be significantly better with the departure of shooting guard Jalen Thompson, who shot just 23% from 3-point range, and allowed opposing defenses to play UHH 5 on 4, sagging off him to have more blanket coverage.
In just his second year, coach Kaniela Aiona has transformed the team into his own image. The only holdovers from previous coach GE Coleman’s regime who are expected to receive playing time are guard Kia’i Apele, a 2020 Waiakea graduate, forward Jamie Strong and post Tom Power.
“We’re competing every day. The energy is good. The attitude is good,” Aiona said. “We’re excited to get on the floor against somebody else. This team is a better shooting, ball-handling team than we had last year. We’ll have a faster pace on offense, versatility on the defensive end, pushing up and down, four guys on the floor who can shoot, get some easy ones in transition and keep the ball moving.”
Aiona doesn’t care much for preseason polls but noted UHH hasn’t been picked that high in a long time. Prior to Aiona’s 10-2 debut mark in the COVID-19 shortened season, UHH’s last winning record was 16-11 in 2011 under former coach Jeff Law.
That was a decade of mediocrity, changed overnight with a local boy who brought in a better culture, focused on thinking team first, work hard and compete for playing time.
Did you know Aiona helped Honokaa reach the state semifinals in 2001?
For those with an elephant’s memory, you remember Iolani beat Honokaa 49-47 when Dragons guard Austin Souza scored with 33 seconds left, but the bucket was waved off by Thomas Yoshida, an Oahu official. Souza was called for a controversial charge, and the Raiders won in overtime.
The point is Aiona can use all this kind of stuff as recruiting tools.
He knows what it’s like to ball, knows Hilo’s landscape, can point out the best food and beach spots to recruits. Plus the guy is genuine, what you see is what you get, a personable coach, focused on family and culture themes. Peyton Manning had his “Omaha” calls; Aiona has “Mauna Lani” and “Mauna Loa.”
Aiona has already proven to be an ace recruiter. His two best recruits from a year ago will lead the charge. Sophomore forward Aniwaniwa Tati-Jones, who grew an inch and stands 6 feet 7, also shot over 50% and averaged nearly a double-double. He’s the only Vulcan on the preseason team. A strong case could have been made for 5-8 junior point guard Darren Williams, who averaged 14.4 points and 3.0 assists per game.
Williams is a perfect role model for BIIF kids who think they’re too short for college ball. He’s exactly what college coaches look for in recruits: good skills, good grades, great attitude. No surprise, his dream job is to become a college coach, though he is a diehard Minnesota Timberwolves fan.
Thompson started and averaged 16.4 minutes and shared time with Steven Hubbell (22.8 minutes per game), Ethan Jetter (14.3), and Apele (13.8), all of whom came off the bench. Jetter also split time at forward.
“The group that we have this year is confident in their ability to shoot the ball and make a play for themselves or teammates,” Aiona said. “There’s a lot of competition at the guard spot. There are some new guys who when they get out there people will enjoy watching them play. We’ve got a good mixture, guys from the previous coach. They’ve done a good job, bought in, working hard and want to be part of something special. I’m happy we have those guys.”
Despite not getting more developmental minutes, Stevie-O, Jetter, and Apele all did the Kobe Bryant workout doing the offseason, shooting 1,000 jumpers and working out to get ready for a competition-filled battle for playing time.
UHH’s best recruit, arguably, was a gift from UH-Manoa, sophomore guard Kameron Ng, who came to Hilo via the NCAA transfer portal. If you’ve never watched a second of high school hoops on Spectrum, just Google his name and you’ll see all his impressive moves in a six-minute YouTube video.
Assistant Jamison Montgomery, who’s from Wisconsin, was a key link to landing freshmen guards Donald McHenry, a taller version of Williams, and Max Kunnert, a big-time scorer at his Milwaukee prep school, like his neighborhood rival McHenry.
Aiona tapped into his connections to land freshman center Erik Borg, who’s listed at 6-10 and 240 pounds. He’s not some big guy who can’t move his feet and plays lamp-post defense. Just the opposite, he played soccer for a year growing up in Norway before a growth spurt hit.
Emery Eberhard, a 6-6 forward and 2021 graduate from Honokaa, is also on the roster. His senior season got wiped out by COVID-19. Senior guard Anthony Haskett, freshman guard Jackson Culhane, from Texas, and sophomore guard Payton Grant, from Maryknoll, are also on the roster.
Like Apele, Grant played for his dad, Kelly Grant, for the Spartans. Grant, Apele, who played for his dad Randy “The Helicopter” Apele, and Ng can grab a Spam musubi and reminisce about Maryknoll, Waiakea, and now-defunct Saint Francis meeting back in the day at the state tournament.
Aiona’s program is all about having good players with great attitudes. And sometimes you’re lucky enough to have a double-double, a guy like Vuksanovic, someone with a great skill-set and an even better attitude.
The buy-in, to always put the team first, starts early in recruiting. It sounds simple enough but few coaches know how to figure it out. The local boy from Honokaa obviously knows what he’s doing.
“We want guys who will love their teammates, coaches, community and want to be part of something bigger than themselves,” said Aiona, who neatly summed up his blueprint.