This Week in Vulcan Men's Basketball
Record: 0-0 (0-0 PWC)

Back to Action! Vulcans Host Rival Hawai`i Pacific
Saturday, Jan. 16 vs. Hawai`i Pacific (0-0), 4:30 pm, UHH Gymnasium
Sunday, Jan. 17 vs. Hawai`i Pacific, 3 pm, UHH Gymnasium

Sharks Invade Hilo Waters: UH Hilo will officially open the 2020-21 basketball season this weekend with a pair of games against Hawai`i Pacific. The Vulcans and Sharks will square off six times this season, beginning with the Saturday (4:30 pm) and Sunday games (3 pm) at the UHH Gymnasium.
 
New Era: A new era dawns for Vulcan basketball with Big Island native Kaniela Aiona at the helm. For former Menlo leader is just the sixth head coach in the history of the UH Hilo program. Aiona led Menlo to a 19-11 record last winter and a berth in the NAIA national tournament before COVID-19 ended their season. The Honoka`a native turned the Oaks program around, taking a team that was 3-23 upon his arrival and improving to 20-11 in just three seasons. Aiona brings lead assist Jamison Montgomery with him and also hired Humboldt State Hall of Fame coach Steve Kinder.
 
Vulcans on Video: Because of Hawai`i County protocols and for the safety of players, coaches and fans, only essential personnel will be allowed in Vulcan Gymnasium. But fans around the world can watch live via video stream through the Vulcans website at hiloathletics.com. The link to the broadcast will be on the website's schedule page 24-48 hours before the contest. The cost will be $10 per game. For more information, click here.
 
Coach Aiona on Opportunity to Play: "We are looking forward to hosting the Sharks. It will be bittersweet to have a home opener without The Vulcan Faithful in attendance. I'm hoping everyone will take advantage of the livestream. Creating this opportunity to return to play is a total team effort. So much credit goes to Chancellor Bonnie Irwin, AD Pat Guillen, Associate AD Kula Oda, ATC Kensei Gibbs, our covid testing partners at Premier Medical and countless others who are investing their energy into this season.  We are thankful for great State and County support as well as the PacWest conference leadership for making this possible. A huge mahalo from our Vulcan 'ohana to all involved." 
 
Warm-Up: The Vulcans did get one practice contest under their belts, taking on sister school University of Hawai`i on December 19 in Honolulu. In what was an exhibition game for the Vulcans (and a counter for the Rainbow Warriors), host Manoa was the 89-66 victor. Freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led UH Hilo with an impressive 18 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. 6-9 post Sasa Vuksanovic added 14 points and junior transfer guard Darren Williams added 13 points.
 
Coach Aiona on Preseason Progress: "The focus for game one is always to stay in character, keep it simple. Play hard, smart and together while executing the game plan. Early games are always full of surprises, both good and bad. So we have to be ready to handle both.  I am excited to see how this team will step up when the lights go on. We are counting down the hours until tip off."

Pandemic Puzzle: The Vulcans (UH Hilo), Sharks (Hawaii Pacific) and Silverswords (Chaminade) will see a lot of each other this winter. The Pacific West Conference is playing pod-only schedules during the regular season, meaning that the Hawai`i teams will square off a total of 12 times each against each other---same for the schools in the northern California and the southern California portion of the conference. Teams will also play each other on back-to-back days in the same gym, to cut down on travel and exposure. Postseason play is still a possibility, COVID-19 permitting. But no teams in the CCAA are playing basketball this winter, and only three in the GNAC are competing (Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene).

Vulcans a Mix of Veterans and Newcomers: All the players are new to Coach Aiona, but six players are familiar with wearing the Vulcan uniform. UH Hilo returns senior veterans Jordan Graves and Sasa Vuksanovic, both of whom have significant starting experience. Graves played in just eight games last year before an injury halted his season, but he was averaging 13.3 points a game. As a junior, he ranked second in the PacWest in steals. Vuksanovic, a 6-10 versatile post, led UHH in assists last year and also added 13.6 points and 6.2 boards a game. Other returnees include sharpshooting Jalen Thompson, Tom Power (6-8), Greg Walter (6-6), guards Steven Hubbell and Anthony Haskett, along with redshirt Payton Grant. Newcomers include 5-8 guard Darren Williams, who was the MVP of the Inland Empire Athletic Conference last year, averaging 17 points and six assists a game for Chaffey College. 6-8 Jabari Sweet averaged 13 points and seven boards at Chabot College, while 6-6 freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones showed early promised with 18 points against the University of Hawaii. 6-5 fellow freshman Ethan Jetter will help, as will two-time BIIF Player of the Year Kia`i Apele (Waiakea HS).
 
Vulcans Tabbed Eighth in Preseason Poll: It can serve as bulletin board material for the UH Hilo coaching staff or just passed off as meaningless. The Vulcans were picked to finish eighth of 11 teams in the PacWest Coaches Preseason poll, announced on January 14. Point Loma was tabbed as the favorite, followed by Azusa Pacific, Concordia, Biola, Chaminade, Fresno Pacific, Academy of Art, UHH, Hawaii Pacific, Dominican and Holy Names.
 
Sharks Attack: Hawai`i Pacific finished 10-18 last season and return senior guards David Rowlands (9.2 ppg) and Tavon Tarpley (7 ppg, 4 rpg) along with junior Jacob Fry (7 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Rowland led the Sharks during an 83-50 exhibition loss to Hawaii, with 12 points. 6-11 senior Chidozie Ndu also plays a big factor, and pulled down six boards against the Rainbow Warriors. The Vulcans and Sharks split games last year, and HPU leads the all-time series, 61-54.
 
Coach Aiona on HPU: "HPU has a talented group that competes hard. Coach Vorderbruegge does a nice job with his team. They have length, depth and dynamic players at each position. These will be two hard fought games." 

Last Year: The Vulcans finished 12-14 overall and 10-12 in the Pacific West Conference, good for a tie for sixth place—but for the second year in a row just missed out on a PacWest tournament berth. It was the final season for head coach GE Coleman, whose team upset Azusa Pacific and Concordia early in the season but also dropped three of its final four games.

The Coach: New head coach Kaniela Aiona spent the past five seasons at Menlo in Atherton, Calif, a member of the NAIA Golden State Athletic Conference. The Oaks were 52-34 over the past three seasons and 72-71 overall during Aiona's years. Prior to that he was an assistant coach at St. Leo (Fla.), Benedictine (Ill.), Lake Forest (Ill.), Central Methodist (Mo.) and Webster (Mo.). He played collegiately at Webster. He grew up in Honoka`a and used to go to the Vulcan Basketball camp as a child.