# 2017–18 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team

The 2017–18 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team represented the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by third-year head coach Eran Ganot, played their home games at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 17–13, 8–8 in Big West play to finish in sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament to UC Irvine. They were invited to play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, but they declined the invitation, citing financial concerns.

## Previous season

The Rainbow Warriors finished the 2016–17 season 14–16, 8–8 in Big West play to finish in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big West tournament, they were defeated by Long Beach State in the quarterfinals.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Darryl Matthews | 4 | F | 6'5" | 215 | Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Walk-on; transferred |
| Matthew Owies | 5 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Freshman | Melbourne, Australia | Transferred to Seattle |
| Brian Garrett | 20 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Junior | San Carlos, CA | Walk-on; graduate transferred to Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Noah Allen | 32 | G/F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Pacific Grove, CA | Graduated |
| Larry Lewis Jr. | 34 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Milwaukee, WI | Graduate transferred to Hawaii Pacific |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brandon Thomas | 4 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Sophomore | Woodland Hills, CA | Junior college transferred from Riverside City College |
| Jaaron Stallworth | 5 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Sophomore | Elk Grove, CA | Junior college transferred from Yuba College |

## 2017 Commitments

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Samuta Avea #54 SF | Kahuku, HI | Kahuku High SChool | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Nov 16, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Justin Hemsley #90 PG | La Verne, CA | Damien High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2017* 8:00 pm | | Hawaii Pacific | W 90–70 | | Stan Sheriff Center (5,110) Honolulu, HI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 82–70 | 1–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,764) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 12, 2017* 5:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | North Dakota Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 81–78 | 2–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,180) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Troy Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 72–67 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,078) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 24, 2017* 8:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Nevada | L 54–67 | 3–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,309) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 27, 2017* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Adams State | W 87–77 | 4–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (4,515) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm, P12N | | at Utah | L 60–80 | 4–2 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,896) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Prairie View A&M | W 72–60 | 5–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (4,963) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 9, 2017* 9:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UH Hilo | W 82–64 | 6–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,003) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 17, 2017* 5:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Utah Valley | W 70–69 | 7–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,187) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 22, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 6 Miami (FL) Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals | L 57–75 | 7–3 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,669) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 23, 2017* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | Davidson Diamond Head Classic consolation 2nd round | W 79–71 | 8–3 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,946) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 25, 2017* 9:30 am, ESPNU | | Princeton Diamond Head Classic 5th place game | L 63–77 | 8–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,698) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Howard | W 84–59 | 9–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,296) Honolulu, HI |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Long Beach State | L 81–89 | 9–5 (0–1) | Walter Pyramid (2,246) Long Beach, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 65–46 | 10–5 (1–1) | Matadome (686) Northridge, CA |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal Poly | W 57–45 | 11–5 (2–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,189) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 13, 2018 8:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Santa Barbara | W 77–76 | 12–5 (3–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,719) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Davis | W 77–72 | 13–5 (4–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,581) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 27, 2018 8:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal State Fullerton | L 66–69 | 13–6 (4–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,869) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 1, 2018 5:00 pm | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 82–84 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (4–3) | UC Santa Barbara Events Center (2,317) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Cal Poly | L 64–78 | 13–8 (4–4) | Mott Athletics Center (2,703) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Riverside | L 60–64 | 13–9 (4–5) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,206) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal State Northridge | L 71–77 | 13–10 (4–6) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,945) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 15, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Irvine | W 62–61 | 14–10 (5–6) | Bren Events Center (1,424) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 3:00 pm, FS Prime Ticket | | at UC Riverside | W 74–69 $^{OT}$ | 15–10 (6–6) | UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (465) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Long Beach State | W 74–63 | 16–10 (7–6) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,409) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Irvine | L 57–66 | 16–11 (7–7) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,353) Honolulu, HI |
| Mar 1, 2018 5:00 pm | | at UC Davis | L 59–70 | 16–12 (7–8) | The Pavilion (2,491) Davis, CA |
| Mar 3, 2018 1:00 pm, FS Prime Ticket | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 68–60 | 17–12 (8–8) | Titan Gym (972) Fullerton, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 6:00 pm, Fox Sport West | (6) | vs. (3) UC Irvine Quarterfinals | L 67–68 | 17–13 | Honda Center (3,311) Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Hawaii–Aleutian Time.. ||||||
Source: