Staffing up

Eran Ganot is ready to roll with his new staff.

With the addition of Chris Acker to the team over Memorial Day weekend, Ganot executed his final major hire (Adam Jacobsen and Norm Parrish were the others). For the most part, he is now free to move on to other matters.

There is still the matter of deciding on a director of operations — the services of Jamie Smith have been retained, for now — and figuring out Zane Johnson‘s volunteer title.

But chiefly, there’s a recruiting class to round out and scheduling to complete. Indications are UH will have at least one recruit visit during the coming week, when the dead period ends. (The spring signing period has already elapsed, but players may still be awarded financial aid scholarship agreements.)

Ganot carved out a little time to offer some thoughts on his staff.

On Acker:
“Like the others, he’s another well-rounded coach. His strengths probably are more so in the player development aspect, but they (the assistants) are all good there. Kind of emphasized that when we did the (news) release. But he’s really good. I mean, I don’t want to sell him short … he’s definitely not one-dimensional. He’s well-rounded. He’s another piece in terms of player development, mentorship and things like that. Obviously he’s had some head coaching experience. All these guys come from successful and championship programs. So, I’m excited about that piece.:

On the most impressive part of Acker reviving a suspended program at West Los Angeles and succeeding:
“You know, just that he did it and he did it the right way. So, I wasn’t surprised to see that. I’ve known Chris for a while. Obviously, he coached at Citrus with Rick Croy, and we’ve known each other a long time so I’ve followed his progress and I’ve seen him on the floor where he’s really good. I’ve seen him develop guys in individual workouts. To see him use that experience to run his own program was the next step for him, and he did a great job.:

On the staff as a whole now that it’s completed:
“Right, I was excited about embarking on that challenge, of finishing or completing a staff. And I’m really excited, happy and pleased with how it turned out. We have the kind of guys we want. I’ve said this from the beginning, I want guys who are good guys, guys who are talented on the floor, recruiting, the whole package as a coach. And then guys who wanted to be in Hawaii. Each of these guys have had unique experiences and connections or context that help them understand how unique this place is and they all really have a strong affinity towards the islands. … And then the other piece at the end of the day is to make sure they complement each other well, and I’m really happy about they do. I think this staff will get along well, very well, and I’m excited about working together.”

On a feeling out process for the staff:
“I think there’s a pretty good feel there. I know most of us have known each other. Obviously I’ve known all of the guys I hired, and then Adam and Ack have known each other, and Adam and Norm have known each other. … The type of people they are and the way they’re driven, the fact that they’re such high quality and so much about the team, that I think you can already see that. I think there’s a natural tendency for the kind of guys we have, and those guys in particular will start to feed off each other and come together. I feel very confident in our staff being strong.”

On what’s next:
“What’s next is we continue recruiting … the dead period ends on the 29th, so we plan on bringing guys up for some visits, finishing our class, and obviously camps coming up in early June. Getting organized and getting ahead of things for the July recruiting period. And seeing where we’re at and doing the best we can to finish the schedule.”