UH-Hilo athletic director Pat Guillen reads the newspaper and knows the COVID-19 numbers, especially the rise of the omicron counts.
In a cautious approach, UHH’s men’s and women’s PacWest games against Hawaii Pacific on Thursday at the Shark Tank on Oahu and against Chaminade on Saturday, Jan. 2 at McCabe gym have been postponed and rescheduled to a date to be determined.
“Everybody is concerned about the rise in numbers,” he said. “But it (omicron) is not as bad as the delta variant. We’re making the best decisions that we can. We just want to error on the side of caution. It’s interisland, so we can postpone and schedule at a later date.”
The HPU women’s team is still investigating coach Reid Takatsuka for “issues relating to athletes’ well-being” the school announced on Friday Dec. 17. HPU said men’s basketball coach Darren Vonderbruegge will serve as the interim women’s coach.
Takatsuka had an unexplained absence at HPU’s 73-50 loss to UHH on Sunday, Dec. 12 at Hilo Civic. Amy Baum, the PacWest preseason player of they year, also didn’t make the trip. She didn’t play against Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 14 and against Concord on Dec. 16 at the Shark Tank. HPU made no mention of her status. The senior from Australia is still listed on the roster.
On Dec. 26, Hawaii set a new record with 2,205 new coronavirus cases, and UH-Manoa felt the effects and canceled its football bowl game against Memphis on Dec. 24, and the Rainbow Warrior basketball team canceled games against Northern Iowa on Christmas, against UC Davis on Thursday, and UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 1 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s Big West road games against UC Riverside on Thursday, and against UC Davis on Saturday, Jan. 1 were also canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
“When students leave for break at Manoa or anywhere, it’s a high likelihood they’ll test positive,” Guillen said.
UHH has a five-game PacWest home stretch in January. The Vulcans host Biola Tuesday, Jan. 4, Holy Names, Jan. 6, Fresno Pacific, Jan. 8, Academy of Art, Jan. 13, and Dominican, Jan. 17 at Hilo Civic.
Guillen is an optimistic guy, one reason he’s a Minnesota Timberwolves fan.
“As of today, they’re coming,” he said. “But anything can change at any moment. That’s the plan. We’ll see. We’ll do the best we can and let the chips fall. What’s important is to keep the community and students safe. That’s what we focus on.”
The UHH women (5-2, 2-1 PacWest) have won three straight while the Vulcan men (6-4, 2-1) have won two in a row.