Jamie Smith to return
Amazingly, the Jamie Smith Saga in Hawaii is not over yet.
(That would be the former Hawaii basketball video coordinator, not the former ‘Iolani girls and UNLV women’s hoops standout.)
Smith, who’s been back in his native Britain since last season ended, plans to rejoin the Rainbow Warriors as video coordinator in the coming weeks.
As many of you will recall, Smith helped galvanize the UH student section last year even after he was unable to maintain his role as the V.C. because of visa issues. (Updated note: Jamie said he was attending as “a spirited fan” after that point, as the themed nights were already set up.)
Several of the themed game nights he promoted were outstanding, none more so than “Star Wars Night” against Northern Arizona.
Well, he’ll have less time to plan out events this time, but if all goes well, he’ll be back in town by the start of Big West Conference play in early January.
“Still waiting for Hawaii to get the official paperwork back from US immigration so I can go to the london Embassy to get my visa, but it’s been approved!” Smith said in a message. “I expect to be back in about 3-4 weeks.”
It remains to be seen how much freedom he’ll have to mobilize students and other fans again, in addition to being video coordinator. That was something of a sensitive issue within the UH administration in his last go-around.
At the very least, Smith is a skilled video editor and can help free up the rest of the staff for other duties. It’ll be good to have him back.
-o-g-i-c-a-l-l-y there really shouldn’t be any sensitive issues with regards to Smith’s hands-on involvement in showing the UH Manoa student-body that there is much fun to be had at UH athletic contests. As a video coordinator and paid member of the staff, I can safely assume his immediate superior is head coach Gib Arnold and Arnold has publicly commended Smith on his efforts with the student body in addition to his assigned duties as the video coordinator for the program. Smith appears to be the type of individual that is willing to go above and beyond his assigned duties for the betterment of the Rainbow Warrior Basketball Program and therefore any “sensitive” issues appear to be mired in red tape bureaucracy and dare I say envy stemming from egos? In my opinion and as a paying c-u-s-t-o-m-e-r of UH athletics, its refreshing to see such initiative being taken whereas the sense of entitlement has run rampant all for the betterment of what exactly? My sincere best wishes for Jamie Smith going forward and I think I speak for all dedicated loyalists of UH athletics when I say, “WELCOME BACK!”
Kevin:
What was so telling , with great Jamie Smith, and his enthusiasm, and effort energy and true love for getting the Manoa Maniacs going, and helping UH SSC become a real college BB environment..Jamie, said, the REAL MIND behind, creating interest, as well as providing the support from, was Gib Arnold himself. Jamie deflected attention from himself , and gave due credit to Gib. Kudos to Gib, he wants to make UH MBB a real student event, and exciting for years to come for MBB fans. He has a good one, in Jamie Smith. Kevin, don’t know with that Visa, thing, the guys coming back from overseas summertime, remember Harper, took long time to get cleared. There is always some issue going on behind scenes …I know one thing, Jamie worked with the Boston Celtics, so he is a good one, knows BB and promoting interest. Welcome back Jamie. Hope all paper work is cleared, and we see you soon!
Jamie and rah rah Ben Jay will get along just FINE…..maybe he can even teach Ben a few tips about trying to get a crowd going….ie. like going to the student section rather than in the middle of the AARP gang.
Primo you do funny and correct. Go to student if u want them to stand. In fact stand with the students inside their section. Have a free hot dog and soda night for the first 150 students to enter men’s bb game. Maybe the basketball booster club can kick in a few bucks for pizza night for the students. We should be more student oriented. They are future season ticket holders ! Come on UH marketing. Think outside the box!! We also need the tailgate party at Stan sheriff back outside for men’s basketball games. That was great. Good food. Entertainment. Come on marketing. Ben Jay think outside the box!!
You all have great ideas to get the students supporting UH MBB. They are the ones attending the institution, and those are their peers playing the game. Pretty sure, Ben Jay, being the social media jock, reads all the blogs, tweets, Go get em Ben, increase the presence of UH students at MBB and MVB, make more prizes, freebies, even if they are not BB fans, at present , in future they will be, as will their kids. Key for UH, MBB, just keep on winning, and playing exciting basketball, and with time, have a more challenging out of conference home schedule, the fans will come out!
Change of subject. The Wahine basketball team lost tonight against Oregon State. Jackson got her double-double, with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Shawna-Lei Kuehu got two fouls early and sat out almost the entire first half and about half of the second. This happened quite a few times this year. Wonder about the conservative use of her in terms of minutes per game. To me, she is the second valuable member of the team after Kamilah Jackson.
Just wanted to add that the comments by the Oregon State coach after the game was interesting. He spent a lots of time trying to explain why his team with a front line of players who were 6’6″, 6’3″, and 6′ did not dominate one with a 5’11” center and wings who are 6′ and under, mostly under. He stated that Hawaii was the most physical team that Oregon State has played this. He also said that shorter players tend to be quicker and can present problems to Oregon State’s bigger players. You can credit the Wahine for some tough defense against a much taller and stronger team
Of the Many Reasons to Choose Hawai’i over Boston (Celtics)…
Which Ones are Cited by Jamie?