UH’s Rock stays on the rock
The cupboard shan’t be completely bare next season.
Co-captain Mike Thomas, in characteristic brevity, announced his return in a simple tweet.
I am coming back next year.
— Mike Thomas (@mc_thomas25) April 8, 2016
This is great news for the team, especially on the heels of Aaron Valdes’ pro announcement. “The Rock” gives Eran Ganot a source of stability he can turn to often in what will surely be a challenging road ahead.
It was Thomas who helped hold the line in those uncertain days during last April’s coaching hire, before any of the ‘Bows really knew who Ganot was. He was a voice of reason during moments of doubt this season, like right after the UC Riverside home loss that seemed to wake the team up.
Thomas’ last game of the season, 19 points and 11 rebounds against a very talented Maryland squad, shows what he’s capable of when he plays confidently and in control. UH will surely count on more of that next season as it tries to defend its regular-season championship with several fresh faces.
Now we just wait on Stefan Jovanovic.
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This didn’t make it into today’s print edition for space reasons, so I figured I’d put this here: Some of Valdes’ reasoning for going pro was in this segment:
Valdes called it “one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
The prospect of no postseason next year because of the NCAA’s sanctions lingered in his mind.
“That was big. That was a big factor,” said Valdes’ father, Andy. “It weighed on him a lot, even during the season. They knew this would probably be their last chance together to do something.”
Do something, the ’Bows did. An unprecedented combination of a 28-6 record, Big West regular-season and tournament championships, and NCAA Tournament victory was going to be difficult to top — and impossible with the postseason ban which may or may not be overturned, pending a lengthy appeals process that could drag into mid-summer.
“There’s really not much else to do, if you think about it,” Andy Valdes said.
Transferring penalty-free to another Division I school was never an option, UH’s Valdes said. Mental images of his team’s Big West tournament title win over Long Beach State and court storming at the Honda Center — his favorite Manoa memory — are indelible.
I’m stoked that “the Rock” is returning to lead our team next season. Can we call him Mr. Godspeed? He can be a double double player too.
This is great news. We have another year to enjoy seeing Mike Thomas play for Hawaii!
In other news, I hope that the appeal filed by UH’s offshore law firm was better written than the snips that were quoted in today’s breaking-news story. If those presumably high-priced legal beagles don’t know the difference between “predominantly” and “predominately,” one has to wonder how effective and persuasive the document is as a whole.
tl;dr: smh
Keeping Mike Thomas and, hopefully, Stefan Jovanovic, is the difference between eight and sixteen wins, I think.
Think about it.
Mike Thomas had his career game against MARYLAND on NATIONAL TELEVISION.
I fully expect Mike to be first team all-Big West next season.
It’s your team, Mike.
Will Stefan Jovanovic stay? or will he go pro in Europe to help his family? Possibly finishing school these 2 summer semesters? Lot of European players do that. Their families not that rich. And Stefan Jovanovic far from home.
Hope the best.
Hey Brian, what gives? If Jovanovich leaves, or transfers goes pro, that leaves ONE recruit signed by Gib staff. Then this year, pretty much Ganot recruits. He lived on the laurels, of one of the Best backcourts in the country in Bobbitt, Smith and Fleming, plus exciting wing in Valdes and Jankovic who no team in Big West could really shut down. Now we see what Ganot is made of for 200K ? awfully cheap pay for what he did !
Poorboy is alive and well! Good to see someone still able to mention Gib. Coach will do fine and bring in good kids. And I think he had a little something to do with team success although he would never admit it. Drammeh with a year under his belt should be even better and I look forward to seeing Purchase playing. 28-6 doesn’t happen often but I think Ganot’s teams will still win and be competitive.
FTNCAAEA.