When Eran Ganot was camping out in a University of Hawaii conference room, bumming rides and existing on fast food coupons, days like Monday were but a distant dream.

When he had the luxury of deep, uninterrupted sleep, that is.

Being named the Big West Conference Coach of the Year on Monday by a vote of his peers, Ganot qualified for a $10,000 bonus from UH, which wasn’t far from what he took home his first year at the school.

“I think he made about $10,000-$15,000 that first year (2006-07),” said Riley Wallace, the head coach at the time. “And he worked hard for it.”

Ganot had the grand- sounding title of “director of operations,” which was a part-time position that meant he was a full-time go-fer.

He got the job only because the guy who initially accepted it changed his mind as school was starting. The day Ganot arrived he went straight from the airport to the Ala Wai Golf Course to help set up a benefit golf tournament.

“Welcome to the big-time,” he was told.

Still, it was a step up from up from his previous position of “volunteer” at Saint Mary’s in California, where cafeteria privileges, camp money and a plaque as the school’s “Mike Gibbons Volunteer of the Year Award” were prime rewards in a three-year stay.

Not exactly an immediate return on an economics degree from prestigious Swarthmore College.

Ganot could have gone into work in the financial sector, “But I knew pretty well that I wanted to coach and the job market wasn’t as good (there),” Ganot has said. “I had a harder road because I went the coaching path, but that is what I wanted to do. And if you only get one life, I was gonna go with what I wanted to do, chasing my passion.”

So, when the moderator on a conference call announcing the Big West season awards Monday noted that Ganot has “made it look easy,” the retort was not long in coming.

“I can say it is far from easy,” Ganot said. “This is a tough profession and a tough conference and we’re very appreciative of the position that we’re in.”

In this, his rookie season at UH, Ganot inherited a ready-made team — and the huge expectations that came with having three of the conference’s top players. Stefan Jankovic was named Player of the Year, Roderick Bobbitt joined Jankovic on the first team and Aaron Valdes was a second-team pick.

Their path to a share of the league regular-season title and a 24-5 record, matching the best overall record by a first-year coach in the conference, has not been without bumps and controversy or the year-long shadow of NCAA sanctions. But as the conference tournament opens Thursday, the Rainbow Warriors are the team to beat.

The conference regular-season title has been worth a $25,000 bonus. Winning the tournament and going to the NCAAs would bring an additional $15,000, according to the terms of Ganot’s contract.

“He has certainly paid his dues to get there,” Wallace said. “I’m glad for him. He’s earned it.”

Asked if the campaign has left him feeling older than his 33 years, Ganot told a media conference call, “There’s a before and after picture.”

You suspect, there also is considerable inner satisfaction of the journey that has brought him there.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820