Rainbow Warriors receive Big West top honors

LONG BEACH, CALIF. >> A season of rarefied success produced a haul of postseason awards rarely seen in Hawaii basketball history.

UH’s bounty, as decided by Big West’s nine head coaches, was substantial Monday morning: conference Player of the Year for forward Stefan Jankovic; Coach of the Year for Eran Ganot; first-team honors for Jankovic and point guard Roderick Bobbitt; and second-team recognition for wing Aaron Valdes.

Jankovic and Ganot became just the second UH player and coach to win their conference’s top honor. Both were firsts for the Rainbow Warriors in their four-year tenure in the Big West.

In true Ganot fashion, the team spent the rest of the day getting over itself.

“Pretty good,” Bobbitt said of the awards in ho-hum fashion after a practice at Long Beach State’s Pyramid. “It doesn’t mean too much. We’ve got a bigger thing to worry about, and that’s winning the Big West (tournament).”

Top-seeded UH (24-5) opens it up at the Honda Center on Thursday against eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton (10-19).

Ganot, 34, took over the program last April amid an unresolved NCAA investigation. Now he shares something with his mentor Riley Wallace, UH’s career wins leader. Wallace won WAC Coach of the Year three times (1988-89, 1996-97, 2001-02).

“From now on, he’s going to have … high expectations,” Jankovic said. “He’s a pretty low-key guy, so I don’t think he was the happiest winning the award.”

Ganot is the fourth Big West rookie coach to take it. His team’s 24 wins are tied for the most by a first-year coach in conference history, with the likes of Lute Olson and Jerry Tarkanian, a Big West moderator pointed out on a coaches’ conference call.

“It’s humbling, and it’s a credit to our guys,” Ganot replied. “Individual awards, individual honors are a direct result of a lot of people. Go look in our locker room at our players, No. 1. Our assistant coaches, the managers, this administration. It’s something they should all be proud of. I’m very appreciative of that. Those names you threw out there, thanks for the pressure.”

The 6-foot-11 Jankovic used his versatile abilities to shoot, dribble and finish with either hand to post team highs of 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 55.7 percent shooting from the field. He acknowledged he looked at the awards, but paid them little mind. Anthony Carter was the only previous ’Bow to win a player of the year, in the 1996-97 WAC Pacific Division.

“I mean, it’s more a competitive thing,” said Jankovic, who was born in Serbia and raised in Ontario, Canada. “I don’t really care about accolades and awards. When I play basketball, I want to be the best on the court, so having people recognize that from the outside is good. But again, the award itself doesn’t mean too much compared to me knowing in my mind I want to be the best player every night.”

Bobbitt, another fierce competitor, was UH’s other contender for the league’s top honor, given his all-around importance to the team; he moved up from the BWC second team in 2014-15 to the first. The Oakland, Calif., native is the Big West leader in assists (5.7), steals (2.1) and minutes (34.4) per game. But he didn’t begrudge Jankovic his award.

“It’s huge,” Bobbitt said. “I think he’s one of the most unguardable players in this league. I tell him that every time we play. For him to get that recognition, I do like that, I really do.”

They were joined on the six-player first team by UC Santa Barbara wing Michael Bryson, Long Beach State guard Nick Faust, and guard Luke Nelson and center Mamadou Ndiaye of UC Irvine.

It marked the second time in three years UH placed two players on the first team (Isaac Fotu and Christian Standhardinger, 2013-14), the only two times that’s happened in program history.

Ndiaye won BWC Defensive Player of the Year — which Bobbitt took last year — while Faust was the Newcomer of the Year. Ganot noted he actually considers Bobbitt an improved defender now, in addition to his upticks in scoring and 3-point efficiency.

Valdes (14.4 ppg), UH’s explosively athletic wing, elevated his game from honorable mention status a year ago. The fourth-year junior was joined on the second team by LBSU point guard Justin Bibbins; UC Riverside sharpshooter Jaylen Bland; UCI playmaker Alex Young and UC Davis banger Josh Fox.

“I missed a couple games (with a toe injury), so to still be honored second team — I pretty much missed five or six games — feels good,” Valdes said.

That was the extent of the UH awards; no ’Bows made honorable mention.

Khalil Ahmad of Cal State Fullerton was the BWC Freshman of the year. The other specialty awards went to Davis’ Darius Graham as Best Hustle Player and Long Beach forward Travis Hammonds as Best Sixth Player.

Meanwhile, UH was not above some needling Monday. In LBSU’s Pyramid — the same place the Rainbows lost 74-72 in Saturday’s regular-season finale — they were given several basketballs branded with the “NIT” logo to practice with, the ultimate symbol of a consolation prize. That’s where UH is headed if it cannot capture the Big West tourney title.

“I don’t know if that was indirect or direct (on purpose),” Jankovic said. “They’re third in the Big West. I could say a lot more, but I won’t. Hopefully we see them in the Big West tournament. I really do not foresee them beating us a third time.”

Big West Men’s Basketball

Player of the Year
Stefan Jankovic, Hawaii
Newcomer of the Year
Nick Faust, Long Beach State
Freshman of the Year
Khalil Ahmad, Cal State Fullerton
Coach of the Year
Eran Ganot, Hawaii