The anticipation of a coming season was palpable in Kaniela Aiona’s voice Tuesday afternoon during a phone interview.
He was, however, only the second-most excited Aiona in his car after 3-year-old son Kaleihoa, who sounded spirited in demanding dad’s attention after a long day of preschool.
“Daddy’s on the phone, give me one more minute,” Aiona said.
While a father’s work never ends, the parent of two now can dive deep into the essential details of his other job, that of UH-Hilo men’s basketball coach.
It’s on, Hawaii-pod style, no fans allowed, the Pacific West Conference confirmed Tuesday in announcing a 12-game schedule that designated Jan. 17 against Hawaii Pacific at the Vulcans’ gym as Aiona’s pandemic-delayed regular-season debut. That will be the first of six home games for UHH. For now, all will be held on campus, and beyond the teams, only officials and “game-management personnel” will be allowed to attend.
“I’m so happy with how our guys have approached this season, and now this gives us something to look forward to and work for,” Aiona said. “We have a lot of pride no matter who we play, but with playing just the Hawaii schools, that pride will multiply.”
Coming off an 89-66 loss at UH-Manoa on Saturday in their only exhibition game, the Vulcans are on their NCAA Division II-mandated break, and Aiona is targeting Jan. 4 as the team’s next practice. That will give him an ample opportunity to study up on HPU and Chaminade, who UHH is scheduled to face six times apiece. The Silverswords finished third in the PacWest last season at 15-7. The Sharks were 8-14, two spots behind the Vuls.
“We’ll do our due diligence on each team and have a lot of game film to get through,” Aiona said. “I don’t believe we’re going to be the same team each time we play them. We’ll try different things.
“We’ll scout them well and they’ll scout us well, so it will come down to execution.”
The Hawaii schools will be playing what amounts to six two-game series, with games on consecutive days, while maintaining the usual format of the women’s teams playing before the men’s games.
UHH women’s coach David Kaneshiro has the unenviable task of matching up six times against perennial Division II power HPU. The three-time defending PacWest champion Sharks are already off and running, beating UH-Manoa for the first time, 82-74 on Dec. 13. In what was an exhibition for the Vuls, UHH was a game opponent against the Rainbow Wahine on Sunday in a 71-54 loss.
UHH women’s soccer Gene Okamura was envious the Vuls basketball teams were able to take the court so soon.
“I can’t remember what it feels like to play a match,” he said.
The Vulcans’ women soccer team, along with the men, will get their cracks at the pitch in February, albeit in a condensed four-game slate that will feature a pair of games against HPU and Chaminade, two at a home field to be determined and two on the road.
“That’s what my captains texted me: four games, that’s it?’ ” Okamura said.
Actually, that number could vault to 10, scrimmages included, if things break right.
Okamura’s hopeful that the COVID-19 conditions in California will improve to the point that a few schools from the California Collegiate Athletic Association will be able to come to Hawaii for matches, and he said it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Rainbow Wahine, who had their season canceled, could be slated for an exhibition.
“I’m more than happy to play anybody and grateful for what we have,” Okamura said.
According to a UHH release, the Vulcans’ basketball teams could see their schedules expanded as well if conditions allow them to travel to California in March to wrap up the regular season.
After practicing hard for most of the past six weeks, the Vulcans received two strong debuts in placing three scorers in double figures Saturday night against the Rainbow Warriors: freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals), Sasa Vuksanovic (14 points) and junior transfer Darren Williams (13).
“Practice can be a zero sum game, because if something goes right, it might also be going wrong,” Aiona said. “It was great to be going against someone in a different color uniform. The most important things was to be able to play. Now we have a starting point.”
More points are on the way,
“I’m thankful to our administration and the community for sticking with it,” Aiona said.
Schedules
Basketball
Men
Jan. 17
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Jan. 18
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Jan. 29
at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 30
at Chaminade, 3 p.m.
Feb. 5
at Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 6
at Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 18
Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 19
Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 24
Hawaii Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 25
Hawaii Pacific, 3 p.m.
March 6
at Chaminade, 3 p.m.
March 7
at Chaminade, 3 p.m.
Women
Jan. 17
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Jan. 18
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Jan. 29
at Chaminade, 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 30
at Chaminade, noon
Feb. 5
at Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 6
at Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 18
Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 19
Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 24
Hawaii Pacific, 2:30 p.m.
Feb. 25
Hawaii Pacific, noon
March 6
at Chaminade, noon
March 7
at Chaminade, noon
Soccer
Men
Feb. 13
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 26
at Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 27
at Chaminade, TBA
March 7
Chaminade, TBA
Women
Feb. 13
Hawaii Pacific, TBA
Feb. 26
at Chaminade, TBA
Feb. 27
at Chaminade, TBA
March 7
Chaminade, TBA
