The NCAA will conduct an in-person investigation of the University of Hawaii men’s basketball program by the end of the month, multiple sources told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday.
The circumstances of the school’s apparent suspension of assistant coach Brandyn Akana is the basis for the forthcoming investigation. Sources with knowledge of the situation indicated that an NCAA representative will personally go through records at the Manoa campus.
UH coach Gib Arnold gave the Star-Advertiser the following statement:
"I wish I could talk. Believe me I’d scream as loud as I could in support of my guy. But there is a process with such matters and we are following the process. I am confident when all is said and done and the correct information is shared Brandyn will be just fine and will be able to continue being the great Assistant he is."
UH athletic director Ben Jay could not comment and has said since this matter first surfaced Feb. 6 that it was a personnel issue. The school has not officially acknowledged its self-imposed suspension of Akana, but sources said the suspension was over with the completion of the 2013-14 season, although he is not currently allowed to recruit.
His absence for the final third of the season was said to stem from an inquiry into an "addition" to a document said to have been sent to UH concerning a recent recruit. Missouri transfer Stefan Jankovic was the only player UH officially added in the spring semester.
An NCAA spokeswoman has informed the Star-Advertiser via email, "Due to rules put in place by the membership, we cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations."
Akana has not returned phone messages left by the Star-Advertiser. The four-year assistant for Arnold stopped appearing for team practices and four games between Jan. 23 and Feb. 1. He then returned for a week’s worth of practices and two games, then missed all remaining practices and games through the completion of the season on Thursday, an 87-84 overtime loss to Cal State Northridge in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference tournament.
All told, he was off the Hawaii bench for 12 of the team’s final 14 games. Jankovic was a full practice player throughout and is expected to become eligible in mid-December.
On Sunday it was determined that UH would not advance to a postseason tournament despite a 20-11 record, the program’s best since 2003-04. UH was not invited to the prestigious NCAA or NIT tournaments and could not work out a deal to appear in the pay-for-play CIT or CBI events.
