Off and running

Eran Ganot brought the Rainbow Warriors in for the first of many 2016-17 practice huddles Friday.

Sheriff Drammeh. Brocke Stepteau. Zach Buscher. An injured Mike Thomas and an unproven Jack Purchase.

That was it for what felt familiar in the first Hawaii basketball full practice for the 2016-17 season Friday.

The complete overhaul from March was on full display for nearly three hours. And it was clear that first session won’t be enough; it’s going to take some getting used to, for everybody.

(Mission accomplished, NCAA!)

Players old and new — but mostly new — battled for jobs at every position.

Here’s the current options, by position. Note: Thomas (redshirting) and Drew Buggs (non-contact work, possible redshirt) are excluded from this list for now. Some players can slide over a position, obviously.

PG: Sheriff Drammeh, Matt Owies, Brocke Stepteau
SG: Larry Lewis Jr., Leland Green, Brian Garrett, Zach Buscher
SF: Noah Allen, Zigmars Raimo
PF: Gibson Johnson, Jack Purchase, Darryl Matthews
C: Ido Flaisher

A few observations:

>> The most interesting position battle is at point guard, where you’ve got Drammeh learning the ropes as a Division I playmaker and Matt Owies getting used to Division I, period. Don’t discount Brocke Stepteau as an option, either.

>> Noah Allen is going to have to get used to being a primary option.

>> Leland Green is young, but man, he already has the frame of a developed D-I guard.

>> Darryl Matthews can bring the wood. A few observers agreed he could easily walk over to Ching Field and throw on some pads.

>> Double power forward lineups are in play.

Here’s some other shots from Day 1 of practice: