While Tuesday was supposed to be just the opening day of the Diamond Head Classic, which has become an annual Christmas week tradition, it wound up feeling far less festive than expected when the NCAA levied a one-year postseason ban
While Tuesday was supposed to be just the opening day of the Diamond Head Classic, which has become an annual Christmas week tradition, it wound up feeling far less festive than expected when the NCAA levied a one-year postseason ban and a reduction in scholarships upon the Hawaii men’s basketball program.
Stemming from the alleged and now accepted violations under former head coach Gib Arnold and assistant Brandyn Akana, which included providing improper benefits to players and false information to the NCAA, the governing body determined that those actions required a postseason ban for the 2016-17 season and the loss of two scholarships (down from 13 to 11) for each of the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
It’s a fairly heavy-handed determination and one that could stagnate a program that has been resilient and gained traction since the Arnold dismissal less than 16 months ago. The Rainbow Warriors won 22 games last year and were off to a 7-1 start to this season heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with Northern Iowa (7-3).
While the sanctions don’t immediately impact this year’s team, it effects both the attitude of those within the program and those who would otherwise consider joining the program.
As I’ve written many times before, I don’t like the NCAA. I consider them to be a calculating, predatory, deceitful organization that has actual intentions far removed from those it espouses. It’s so obvious in its crookedness but still displays this sense of disbelief when anyone has the audacity to question its motives.
It has very little to do with student-athletes and is based entirely in constructing, maintaining and growing an empire.
However…
If players, coaches or programs legitimately screw up and engage in activities that could potentially provide a competitive advantage, they can’t simply blame the big, bad NCAA. There are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to this specific case, but the school felt strongly enough to quickly dismiss a coach it liked and self-impose some of its own sanctions before the NCAA had a chance to get involved.
This had been a slow-moving train but everyone knew its arrival was inevitable. Now that it’s here, it’s a bit worse than what was expected. The one-year ban does more than just remove UH as a potential tournament team next season, it completely alters the mindset of those players who return and enter for 2016-17. It’s hard enough to start camp in the fall, put the required hours in to get better and grow as a team even when you think there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. When you know a dream season is out of the question before it begins, morale can suffer.
I highly doubt we’ll see any residual on-court effects from this announcement in the short-term. If anything, it could actually up the intensity levels from juniors like Aaron Valdes, Stefan Jankovic and Mike Thomas, who now know this will likely be their final opportunity to reach the postseason. The ‘Bows rallied around Benjy Taylor last season and have come out firing on all cylinders this year, so they’re a tight group that can handle tough situations.
Head coach Eran Ganot may have a tough time recruiting and remaining highly competitive for the next few seasons, but he shouldn’t have any problem in terms of effort and composure from his current guys.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
