The Australian pipeline has expanded slightly for the Hawaii men’s basketball team.
Aussie walk-on guard Jakob Cornelissen was a late addition to the team and has begun workouts with the Rainbow Warriors.
New UH coach Eran Ganot has spoken often of wanting to start funneling Australian players into the program, ala his former team, Saint Mary’s.
“Great kid. Works hard. Very intelligent, and obviously his strength is his ability to shoot the ball and space the floor,” Ganot said of the 6-foot-1 freshman. “That’s kind of where he’s at right now. There’s still a lot of unknowns with him. … He’s got a chance to get better.”
Cornelissen should boost UH’s depth in the backcourt. The Rainbows had a signed recruit at point guard, Bryce Canda, not make it into school for the fall semester, but they also have Roderick Bobbitt, Quincy Smith, Niko Filipovich and Dyrbe Enos returning at the point and Isaac Fleming as a combo guard.
“It depends on how the fall semester goes for him and preseason, how much strength he can gain and how quick he picks things up,” Ganot said of where the newcomer would fit in the pecking order. “The normal things for freshmen, really.”
Cornelissen was on the junior squad with the Melbourne Tigers, the same club that another new Rainbow, Jack Purchase, was brought up in. Purchase, a 6-9 forward who transferred from Auburn, will have three years of eligibility after redshirting the 2015-16 season.
Prior to the additions of Purchase and Cornelissen, there was just one Aussie — Michael Harper — in program history.
“It’s always good to have another guy from an area you’re trying to start up in,” Ganot said.
