New Hawaii coach Eran Ganot intends to take the same approach with his players as his yet-to-be-assembled staff.
Keep things simple, with a few key tenets.
"This is going to be about a culture, a great culture of work, of discipline, of team," Ganot said, conjuring some of the same values that were often ascribed to him during a 12-year rise from volunteer coach, to director of basketball operations, to full assistant, to top assistant, to head coach.
The 33-year-old former Saint Mary’s assistant was re-introduced to Hawaii media on Thursday. The room had the air of a reunion; Ganot was on the staffs of both Riley Wallace and Bob Nash over a four-year span in the late 2000s, and the familiar faces were many.
Despite that, the fanfare was at a relative minimum, which is likely the way the low-key New Jersey native preferred it.
Getting the UH job was one thing for Ganot — a three-year contract at an undisclosed annual salary. Now the real challenge begins. Sure, he survived a national coaching search, was deemed more worthy for the job than the incumbent, Benjy Taylor, and took the podium at his press conference to heartfelt applause.
His responsibilities ramp up drastically and immediately. UH faces unresolved NCAA sanctions, uncertain fates for its players and a late jump on recruiting, with the spring signing period beginning on Wednesday.
Ganot made sure to give a nod of appreciation at the 22-13 season Taylor and the Rainbows recently compiled despite considerable adversity.
"These guys did a great job, staff and players, in a very tough situation," he said. "And as I approach things moving forward, I want to make sure we all understand — I get that.
"There’s going to be X’s and O’s, offensive philosophy, recruiting philosophy, all that. The most important thing is people."
He said he would pattern much of what has made Saint Mary’s successful to his new post. Instead of canvassing broadly and spreading his efforts thin, he said he’ll go after fewer recruiting targets, and make those relationships count — then focus heavily on player development to get those same players to stick it out in a college hoops generation stricken by transfer-itis.
It has worked for the Gaels, who’ve had eight straight seasons of qualifying for the NCAA or NIT tournaments. SMC loses five starters, all seniors, from its 21-10 squad which is coming off an NIT appearance.
As for his on-court philosophy, he left that largely unsaid for now but noted he’d tailor his style, at least in part, to his returnees’ best attributes.
Ganot made clear he views Hawaii a "dream destination," which he also considers home. So determined was he for the job, a planned proposal to his longtime girlfriend, Barbea, was put on hold.
Incoming athletic director David Matlin, along with a four-person search advisory committee, made the recommendation to Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman to hire Ganot. Matlin said he realized there are many fans who grew attached to Taylor and the unique style of play he imparted through the Rainbows, but stood by his choice.
"There’s no question Benjy did a phenomenal job with what he inherited. And he inspired a lot of people. And take the players, too. It’s really about them," Matlin said. "I think Benjy led them well during the season. Here’s what I know: People that know Eran are very excited about this. The people who don’t know him need to give him an opportunity to get to know him, and I’m very optimistic once they do, they will understand why we hired him. But there’s no question, the people who know him, they’re very excited. I got a lot of very good feedback from a lot of people who have been very close to the program."
Ganot’s only head coaching experience to this point consists of five games at SMC filling in for the NCAA-suspended Randy Bennett in 2014, in which he went 3-2 in West Coast Conference play.
He is credited within the Gaels’ program for helping rehab the school’s image in the wake of NCAA sanctions due to the actions of a former assistant coach who did not overlap with Ganot.
"I can’t speak highly enough about him. Squeaky clean, and that’s what we need," said Amanda Paterson, the UH compliance director who served on the search committee. "So I’ve got no reservations.
"I did speak with Saint Mary’s after we had interviewed. They had confirmed that he was the correct person to help clean up the program."
After an emotional parting with Bennett and his Saint Mary’s players, Ganot flew into Honolulu on Wednesday night. His first order of business Thursday morning was meeting with the Rainbow Warriors players.
It was a quick meeting; about 15 minutes. Nearly all returning players were said to be there. More in-depth, one-on-one meetings with players have yet to occur. Workouts are set to begin next week.
Sophomore forward Stefan Jankovic said he blocked out the coaching news after the season while he spent time with his family back in Canada, but was so far pleased with the hire of Ganot.
Freshman guard Isaac Fleming sent two tweets on Wednesday that seemed to indicate he would look to transfer out, but Jankovic said to his knowledge no one has finalized any plans.
"The morale is good. I haven’t heard anything," he said. "I don’t know if some guys have tweeted some stuff or not, but people take stuff from media too seriously sometimes. Everyone’s still here and (nearly) everyone showed up to the meeting. So, as far as I know everyone’s giving him a chance, as they should."
Swingman Negus Webster-Chan was said not to be at the meeting while he traveled back to the islands from Canada.
Sophomore center Stefan Jovanovic said he appreciated Ganot’s straightforward talk with the team.
"I think he’s a good guy," Jovanovic said. "From what I heard from others, he has a lot of basketball knowledge and I think he can really be good for this program."
Ganot hasn’t named any members of his staff.
