University of Hawaii men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot picked up his smartphone Wednesday and played a video of his Rainbow Warriors surprising his 5-year-old daughter, Zeza, with a birthday cake, singing “Happy Birthday.”

The celebration was in a hotel conference room during their epic three-week road trip that was capped off with a heartbreaking second-round NCAA tournament loss to Maryland.

The look on Zeza’s face was of pure glee. But the basketball players looked equally as excited as they serenaded her. Queried about whether the team has any talented singers, Ganot replied: “No. No, we do not.”

The moment underscored Ganot’s belief that strong relationships and family are what successful programs are built on — and the achievements of this year’s team show the foundation appears solid. Ganot, who just wrapped up his first season as head coach, led the team to not only a Big West championship, but to UH’s first-ever first-round win in the NCAA tournament.

Ganot was the team’s third coach in as many years, and the team rallied under the cloud of NCAA sanctions stemming from previous coach Gib Arnold’s tenure. UH is awaiting a decision on its appeal of next year’s postseason ban.

Ganot described the team as tough and gritty, and said he was proud of how his new coaching staff and a veteran group of players were able to mesh. The team learned the rich history of the UH basketball program, he said.

“What was great is as the season went along, they knew (the history) and they knew it well and it gave them extra motivation,” Ganot said. “So they had something to shoot for.”

The UH Rainbow Warriors and the Wahine, also Big West champs, will be honored by Gov. David Ige Monday during a proclamation ceremony.

Ganot, who lives in the Kakaako area with wife, Barbea, and Zeza, was hired as a part-timer under coach Riley Wallace during his last year. He later was hired as an assistant under coach Bob Nash. Ganot said he was fortunate to have worked with them — they taught him about the game and Hawaii. Wallace would take Ganot to lunch every day during his last year. (He’d say) “Try this or you’re fired, eat this or you’re fired.” I’d say “OK, Coach.”

It was Randy Bennett, head coach at Saint Mary’s College, who gave him his first break after Ganot graduated from Swarthmore College. He ran out of money in the third year, but learned coaching from “one of the best.” Bennett put him in touch with Wallace, who gave him his first paying staff position. He later returned to St. Mary’s as an assistant coach before returning to UH as head coach.

Said Ganot: “I loved the grind, I loved the journey.”

Question: It looks like you’ve cultivated a family atmosphere with your program.

Answer: It has to be. And it should be. We have great people in our program, great families. Families of our players, families of our coaches. That’s the way this program will be built. It’s just great to have. The kids of coaches naturally, and the people here, look up to those players. It’s great when those players treat those kids so well. And they do.

Q: Is that something you’ve stressed from the get-go?

A: The relationships — the first thing I did when I got the job. It was a whirlwind. You get hired. You jump on the flight. … You have a press conference at 9. The first thing I requested was to get to the players first. I don’t want their first vision of me being at a press conference. They were able to set up a room for me to meet with the guys. I had about 10, 15 minutes with them. I took it. I was pumped to have it.

It was about individual meetings with these guys, getting to know each other, traveling to spend time with the families. When you come to a program, you get so excited, and you’re about building, building, building, but the reality is it’s about people, it’s about relationships. So before you get into the recruiting and the Xs and Os, you better put time into the people in your program. …

Q: Do you think that initial interaction helped them get to know you and see what your priorities are?

A: Absolutely. No. 1, I had to let them know about myself. I had to hire staff, which is one of the things you’ll hear me say a lot: We are going to suffocate our program with great people. We’re going to spend a lot of time together. We’re going to get to know each other. It’s very challenging when you’re coming in in April …There’s the new coaching staff and a returning group of players and neither group was stubborn. We adjusted, they adjusted. We all adjusted with the mindset of what’s best for this program, for this team. That’s easy to say. That’s very difficult to do.

Q: What was it like to have the NCAA sanctions come during the Diamond Head Classic?

A: That was a moment we won’t forget for a long time. It was crazy. … The timing was unique. We’re preparing for hosting one of the great tournaments in the country and a tough game with Northern Iowa. Right at that point … we wanted to get ahead of things as best we can, given the situation, and with as much information as we can. I remember … getting with the players and saying as a heads-up there will be an announcement. That’s all we could tell them because we didn’t know anything. … The next day, and I said this at the time, we went from the uncertainty of the NCAA to the clarity of the NCAA, neither of which were good. But what can we control?

Again, go back to what we do have. What we have, not what we don’t have. Control what you can control. Don’t worry about what you can’t control. And perspective: We were all very blessed. …We talked about it that day and then we talked about controlling what we can control. But to these guys’ credit, that was the last time we talked about it as a team. …

The next time we talked about anything was when we sent in the appeal (of the ban on postseason play for 2016-17). … To see this group come together through all that, I mean, I don’t know if many programs could do that. I don’t know if there are a lot of teams that could fight through like these guys did. It doesn’t always happen this way. …

The bonus is not only did they give themselves the best chance, they were rewarded for their sacrifice with arguably one of the best years in program history. I’m just so proud of them to have the moments that they were able to share together because it was special.

Q: Was there a sense early or a belief that they would go this far or maybe even further?

A: I think this team has great belief. I say this a lot. People ask me to talk about this group. Obviously this is a talented group and a tough, gritty group. But more than anything, No. 1 is the approach. It’s when you look in their eyes, they make you believe. That’s what I will remember most about this team. I think in a unique way, some of the adversity and the trials and the tribulations have just made them stronger and tougher.

Q: It was an unbelievable run. When you think about it, the entire state was paying attention. How do you handle the pressure?

A: I don’t think anyone puts more pressure on me than myself. So I stay locked in the moment. It helps when you have a routine. …

We had some magical moments during the course of the season. But within the last three weeks we won a conference regular season for the third time in school history. … Then we won a conference tournament title … Made the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in school history. Won an NCAA tournament game for the first time in school history. But we still had not been home until a couple days ago. What was crazy was, for a little bit there, it felt like half of Hawaii was with us …

I’ll talk first about the Big West tournament. We were the school that was 2,500 miles away — not the ones within a 30-mile radius like the rest — and we had the best turnout. We owned the gym! How crazy is that?

But it’s inspiring and our guys feed off it. … Then we go to Spokane (Wash.) with a lot of BCS (Bowl Conference Series) programs and the contingent of Hawaii fans was as good or better than any other program. And if you were a neutral party at the games, you became a Hawaii fan. It felt like we were playing at Stan Sheriff Center. We heard guys (from) Maryland and Cal saying it felt like a road game. We’re 2,800 miles away in Spokane, so how awesome is that?

There’s just a lot of special moments you look back on, and I just know when the (final) buzzer sounded it hurt. It should hurt. It’s emotional. If it didn’t hurt I’d be more worried.

People don’t realize how much goes into something like this. But then when you have a second and you have perspective and you reflect — unbelievable. I don’t know if our group had anything left. They gave everything they had. Everything.

I told them after they should never hang their heads. We wished we could be playing forever, but did this group give everything they had? No question.

Q: Let’s switch to your demeanor on the court. How do you stay so calm?

A: It’s different on the inside. I’m big on preparation and having great belief and faith, just like these guys. I think I’m at my calmest when the ball’s tipped because you just let your instincts take over. … I’d probably be less calm if I didn’t think we didn’t put in the work on the front end. …

I also think that’s how I naturally am. I think I needed to be more that way with the adversity and the clouds and what was going on in our program, the dynamics of the group. And so I always want our team to be composed. If I’m not composed, how can I expect them to be?

Q: We’re waiting on the NCAA appeal decision. Have you guys given the juniors any kind of deadline to decide whether they stay or transfer?

A: We’ll sit and talk with them. … It’s going to be a conversation. It’s going to be picking their brains, seeing where their mind’s at, where their families are at. … It’s about us giving them as much updated information as we can, and then it’s just really going back and forth, having a talk.

Again, we’ll break down where it’s at, we’ll break down a lot of positives that are still happening with our program. And there are lots.

And here’s the reality: Those guys love it here. They do.

Q: Any idea when those conversations will take place?

A: Obviously we just got back Monday and one thing I’m really proud of what we do is we find the balance for these guys. They have to have a cooling-off period because it just wouldn’t be fair or right otherwise. I’d give them some days, a week … They deserve to engage in those conversations when they feel comfortable and feel refreshed.

Q: But no break for you, right?

A: Yesterday I watched “How to Train a Dragon” with Zeza. … When there’s a break — and there’s not many — I spend time with my family. We like watching movies. I think the movies is the ultimate escape; (also) going by the beach and listening to the waves, relaxing, spending time with family and loved ones. I’m a simpleton.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years?

A: I would say I hope I’m still coaching. … I know how difficult this profession is. I know how blessed we are. Just the opportunity to continue to coach and coach a group of kids is, especially at a tremendous place like here, a true honor and something we don’t take lightly and something that we think about all the time. …

Can you continue to make a difference, continue to build this program and is your family happy here? I think all those have been answered.

Q: What about recruiting? Does it start in April? Is it going on now?

A: It’s constant. We took a little bit of a detour with what we’re going through. But it doesn’t change your approach, it doesn’t change your mindset.

Recruiting is important. It’s critical to your program. We’re going to be on the road most of March and April. We’re going to have visits coming in the next couple months. We’re working on finishing this class and getting a head start on 2017-2018, despite all that’s going on. Our approach is to do the best we can and find a way with whatever obstacles there are.

Q: One last question: The last game against Maryland, I know you said they left everything out there, but what do you think happened?

A: I think people should be very proud of the performance of this group. We had a tough three-minute stretch. We were in great shape, we were in control. I think the opponents will tell you that. The group had a tough, two-, three-minute stretch, just like any team does on that level. … We had some lapses and they capitalized. … It was a 12-0 run.

Outside of that, our guys did a great job. … They came to play from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the beginning of that game to the end of that game.

After that run those guys continued to fight. … I couldn’t be prouder.