The latest edition of the UH-Hilo basketball team will be in second-year coach Kaniela Aiona’s image with new recruits who will add much-needed depth, significant skill-level upgrades, and, maybe most importantly, youth.
The Vulcans (10-2 last season) lost three starters and one bench player. Gone are Sasa Vuksanovic, who signed a professional contract to play ball in Portugal; Jordan Graves, who graduated; Jalen Thompson, who had a year of eligibility left but departed the program; and forward Greg Walters, who also graduated.
UHH will miss the production of Vuksanovic. The 6-foot-10 forward, from Serbia, averaged 15.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, shot 51% from the field, and could score with both hands.
But the team will miss his endearing personality more. He was a hard-working gym rat, who cared for his teammates. Before games, he would jump rope to keep his cardio up.
Graves, a 6-1 guard from Monterey, Calif., averaged 7.8 ppg and shot just 34% from the floor but was the team’s best lockdown defender.
Thompson, a 6-3 guard from Oregon, averaged 2.8 ppg, and shot 30% from the field, including just 23% from 3-point range. He averaged 16 minutes and was regularly substituted out after missing shots. It didn’t help that Thompson struggled to create his own shot off the dribble or attack the rim.
It didn’t take Hawaii pod opponents, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific, long to figure out Thompson could be a weak link. Defenders would sag off him and have an extra defender crash the boards for rebounds and target him with ball screens.
Aiona solved two problems with one recruit when he landed UH-Manoa transfer Kameron Ng, a 5-11 guard, who was a two-time Gatorade State player of the year.
Ng can run the point, break a defender off the dribble and soar into the paint and score. His other weapon is a smooth pull-up elbow jump shot. He’ll give the Vulcans another three-level scorer to take some of the scoring burden off sophomore Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who averaged 16.5 ppg and shot 50% from the floor. Ng moves his feet and plays tough defense, too.
The four other recruits are Honokaa graduate Emery Eberhard, a 6-7 forward, whose dad Brent played for the Vulcans; Max Kunnert, a 6-4 freshman guard from Arizona who averaged 19 ppg and shot 58% from the field; Donald McHenry, a 6-2 freshman guard from Wisconsin who averaged 38 ppg and scored 54 points in a game; and Erik Borg, a 6-10 center from Norway who played pro ball in the Scandinavian country.
Aiona had strong ties to Ng and Eberhard and connected early with the former Saint Francis standout when he entered the NCAA transfer portal.
“We hit it off right from the beginning,” Aiona said. “He indicated he liked the way we played. His dad (Kevin Ng) coached me in my freshman year of high school. Our families go back a little bit. I like his enthusiasm and passion for the game. He’s a workout warrior and loves to work on his game.
“I’ve known Emery’s dad for a long time. I’ve known the family for a long time. He’s got a lot of potential. He’s got legit length and athleticism, and a nice touch. He’s a later bloomer, obviously with no senior year, so I didn’t see him play live. He’s got some tools and will have a good career for us.”
Aiona and assistant Jamison Montgomery, who is from Wisconsin, had connections to land the two prep guards.
“Coach Montgomery and myself have that Milwaukee, Midwest connections,” Aiona said. “Both are good players and will have significant opportunities in the program.”
Borg came by way of the coaching coconut grapevine.
“Erik came through to us with some relationships we had with a number of players in Norway,” Aiona said. “Through our connections, we get a lot of phone calls of players. We have to see what’s a good fit and so went with him. He’s got good upside. He’s got legit size, nice touch around the basket, good hands, and feet, is comfortable on the perimeter, and can do a number of things.”
The only returning starters are 6-6 sophomore forward Tait-Jones, and senior guard Darren Williams, who averaged 14.4 ppg and shot 38% from long distance. The other key returnees are senior guard Steven “Stevie-O” Hubbell, sophomore Kiai Apele, sophomore forward Ethan Jetter, and senior forward Jabari Sweet.