BUT Nice Job of Filling those scholarships and walk-ons with student-athletes high in basketball skills …

Welcome Aaron Valdes — Study hardy…

EXTRACTED:

UH men’s basketball team adds wing player

By Brian McInnis — POSTED: 05:59 p.m. HST, Aug 23, 2012

Aaron Valdes, a 6-foot-5 wing player out of La Jolla Prep (Calif.), has joined the Hawaii men’s basketball team.

Valdes, also a prep water polo standout, arrives with four years of eligibility.

Valdes previously confirmed his intent to join the team, but arrangements were not finalized at the time.

Indications are that Valdes was recently admitted to UH, however. He represents the last scholarship coach Gib Arnold had available for the 2012-13 season.

LINK: https://twitter.com/AIRon_32/status/238488873037099009

So OZ IS Here…Happy and Impressed with his teammates …AND They with him…

After flying Half-Way ‘Round the World (since Qualifying Friday), switching Days and Nights, i would have thought the young guy might be jet-lagged, but in Open Gym with The Team, he’s showng those skills we saw on video, and even looking physical guarding and harassing Christian Standhardinger man to man in the paint as well as anyone I’ve seen recently…And Passing, Ball-Handling and SHOOTING…

With A Little More (Expected) Good Fortune,
Good Times !

Spot on comments, Gib doing, what set out to, establish relationships with soph, juniors, and then senior HS kids. Then offer. If they qualify great! Now, he said going GLOBAL in recruiting, well mark up another for Gib. He has done that. The last piece of puzzle is the challenge, retain, and graduate kids, unless, they go sure big money PRO, Europe or NBA..
Hope Ozren, Manroop, Caleb and Isaac, and possibly Michael and Dyrbe will be first graduating frosh that came to play under Gib’s program! By 2017 or 2018 that would be a good thing!!

You are right, Ozren, the skillset, ready for European pro teams, at least the Croatian Pros..the young guy has talent, handles, passing ability, rebounds , quick jumper, great shooter..inside to 3 line..Gib has a pretty versatile group of guys to work with this year..just have to keep them happy , make good grades in school, and play as a TEAM..they should be good..

Welcome Ozren “Oz”..the wizard!

By Brian McInnis POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 18, 2012

Even with the fall semester just about to start at the University of Hawaii, the worldwide party continues to grow for the Rainbow Warrior basketball team.

On Friday night, UH coach Gib Arnold said Ozren Pavlovic of Croatia was cleared by the NCAA for the upcoming 2012-13 season and has joined the team.

The left-handed Pavlovic is a 6-foot-8, 205-pound forward with the shooting range of a prototypical European big man. He required and was granted a student visa, one of several obstacles UH was waiting on.

Arnold just beat the buzzer on this one: The 18-year-old arrives on Monday — just as school starts at Manoa — with four seasons of eligibility.

“His size, and his skill-set for a kid that young and that tall, is great,” Arnold said. “He’s a deep shooter, has great 3-point range. He’s a lefty. He can guard a power forward, a small forward, but offensively shoots it like a 2-guard with the size of a forward. That’s what really drew me to him. Loved his skill-set. Loved his range at that size.”

Vander Joaquim (Angola), Davis Rozitis (Latvia), Christian Standhardinger (Germany), Isaac Fotu (New Zealand), Michael Harper (Australia) and Manroop Clair (Canada) are the team’s other international players.

“Ozi” Pavlovic does not have any Croatian junior national team experience. He played on some lesser-known club teams as an amateur (his statistics were not immediately available). Arnold said no other Division I schools were after him; the coach spotted him months ago while scouting other players in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

“We were the first ones in,” Arnold said. “The only people we were going against were the pros. He had professional offers that a lot of the better players there have at that age.

“He was a little bit of an unknown, quite honestly, except for in his area. … I think he has some skills that are just going to blossom as he gets older and stronger, and be a pretty good player for us in time.”

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Reviewed Ozi’s Fifteen Minute (!) Highlight Video — how many players have 15 minutes worth of highlights? Search, You can find it… — and irrespective of whatever quality of opposition there is, he is making very polished shots, moves and plays — then i heard the (expected) report that the pros already want to grab him and That Fits …

SO MAYBE Coach Gib didn’t just Visit the Wizard of Oz, he “stole” his trained son with four years of eligibility… AND Pavlovian Drooling Has Begun ….

SO Let’s put to bed that Old Coaches Wives Tale about Not Being Able to Recruit Freshmen to Hawai’i…JUST got To Retain them versus AAU Coaches, PRO Contracts, Military Drafts, etc…..