The offer was 100 grand a year and all the comforts of home for a 19-year-old.
"It was tempting," Isaac Fotu said.
And why not? The Kiwi had the chance to play in front of his family and friends with the New Zealand Breakers, the club that helped groom him on its developmental team, a mere 10 minutes down the road from his parents’ house in Auckland. The club even threw in the cost of tuition so he could finish a college degree somewhere at home.
But Fotu realized he had unfinished business at Hawaii.
"It was tempting to just leave and go for the easy money, but I think there’s too much to offer here for me to leave. Too much of a good thing to leave," Fotu said.
That’s not to say he didn’t think long and hard about it with his family. But his parents, Manu and Jenny, assured him they were well off financially and he should keep pursuing his degree.
And so the ‘Fro is back. Hawaii opens the 2013-14 season in the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Rainbow Classic against Tennessee State on Friday, with Fotu a big part of the Rainbow Warriors’ arsenal.
Fotu, a part-time starter last year, was awarded Big West Co-Freshman of the Year for averages of 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds on an impressive 62.3 percent from the field. By coming back leaner, stronger and more explosive, he’s poised to better those numbers now as one of the team’s centerpieces. He and senior forward Christian Standhardinger are the new 1-2 punch of the ‘Bows front line with three-year center Vander Joaquim gone.
UH’s last game of the 2012-13 season, a 69-65 loss to Air Force in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament first round, was mostly memorable for Joaquim’s now-infamous walkout and UH ending the season by losing six of eight.
But that game also offered Fotu and Standhardinger a taste of something better. Fotu scored 24 points with nine boards and three blocks, and Standhardinger had 16 points, eight boards and three assists. Their postgame press conference was surprisingly light in tone.
"I think we clicked in that last game, especially with me and Christian in the frontcourt, with Vander leaving," Fotu said. "I think we realized what we could do, the damage we could do if we worked together, and that’s what we’re going to do this year. … No one cares who gets the credit. So I think that’s why it was upbeat in that last game."
At least one team out there realized what Fotu could do with the right pieces around him. Fotu is a known commodity in his homeland. As a 17-year-old, he joined the New Zealand senior national team and competed in several international tournaments for the Tall Blacks. The 6-8 forward’s low-post game and ability to finish with either hand has only gotten better with time.
The Breakers made him the roughly $300,000 offer (plus benefits) over three years, Fotu said.
UH coach Gib Arnold has dealt with players’ options to turn pro early before, particularly in his days as an assistant at USC, and even last summer with Joaquim. He doesn’t believe a player of Fotu’s talent should limit himself to a relatively small-market league.
"I think Isaac understands how special this place is," Arnold said. "I think he’s got more to prove. And I really hope that his ambitions are much higher than that. I think he’s just going to continue to get better and he’s going to have more and more offers. I think he’s very smart in turning that down, and I think the teams in New Zealand are smart for pursuing him. Can’t knock them. They’re doing their job, but in the same place he’s a bright kid who’s on track to graduate. Got a great GPA. The longer he stays, the longer it will benefit him.
"If there ever comes a time when he’s got real NBA first-round offers that are legit, to where we’re talking to general managers who are saying, ‘Yeah, we’ll draft him.’ … I’d be the first one to tell him that he probably needs to pursue that."
Standhardinger, for one, is thrilled to have his frontcourt running mate back. The two are willing passers to the other and can set up for effective high-low action. They both have a 3-point shot now that must be respected. Fotu has shown marked improvement in shot-blocking as well.
Standhardinger, too, received pro interest back in his native Germany coming off his All-Big West first-team junior year.
"I knew I would come back and I would play with Fotu, and I knew Fotu would do the same thing," Standhardinger said. "We’re trying to have a great season. I just trust Coach Gib and hope I will be even better off after this year."
Fotu’s Polynesian ancestry — he is half Tongan — might have been the tiebreaker for the ‘Bows.
"I love Hawaii. You know I like the food. The poke bowls," Fotu said. "I like the weather, I like the beaches. I like the feel to it. The mopeds, you just cruise around. I feel like this is the right place for me right now, and I want to make the most of this experience."
