Hawaii center Tanner Christensen shared his faith during a dawn-to-night-night church mission in Argentina.

He navigated through COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Moscow, Idaho, where he and his University of Idaho teammates took online classes, ate meals separately, and wore masks in practices.

And he spent two seasons thinning the basketball court’s paint and swatting shots for the Utah Tech basketball team.

“If you were to tell me five years ago I’d be here,” he said of living in paradise, “I would say, ‘You’re crazy.’ It’s been something cool and unexpected. I was never planning to live out in Hawaii. But, you know, here we are.”

On any given off day, Christensen and his wife will explore Oahu. They have ascended the 1,048 steps to the summit of Koko Head Crater, hiked Diamond Head, and walked on several ridge trails. They also have chased waterfalls.

“And I love going and sitting at the beach all day,” Christensen said.

Thing is, free time is scarce these days. After practices and video sessions, Christensen grabs a quick meal, then heads to his evening finance classes. He is pursuing his second master’s degree.

“If I wasn’t playing basketball, I wouldn’t do another master’s degree,” he said. “Coming out here for another year, I wanted to do something productive with my time.”

He chose finance. “I’ve always been good with numbers and learning about that kind of stuff since I was a kid,” said Christensen, whose long-range goal is to become a certified public accountant and own a tax firm. For now, he is continuing to live out a childhood dream.

“I’ve always loved basketball,” said Christensen, who grew up in Spokane, Wash. “I had a hoop outside the house. I was always out there shooting on it, even when it was super cold in the winters. I probably wore a jacket, but I was always in shorts. I just loved being out there shooting hoops.”

He developed into a standout center at University High. But instead of playing college ball after graduating, he told his parents he wanted to go on a church mission. “My parents were kind enough to pay for it,” he said.

Because he was assigned to Argentina, he spent six weeks at language center learning Spanish. Limited to an hour of pre-dawn exercise each day during the mission, he essentially put basketball on pause for two years. But he said his 6-foot-10 frame was a conversation starter. “They love basketball down there,” he said. “It was neat to talk to them about that.”

After completing his mission, he attended Idaho. “You didn’t get the whole college experience,” he said of the pandemic-related restrictions. “No fans in the arena. You had to take the extra precautions. You couldn’t go out or do a ton of stuff. You had to be in quarantine. But there were obviously a lot of different problems going on in the world at that time.”

As the restrictions eased, he met the woman who would become his wife. At the time, she was taking online classes at Utah Tech. He eventually transferred to Utah Tech, where he met Gibson Johnson, a former UH post player who was beginning his first year as an assistant coach.

Last season, Christensen averaged 11.5 points on 56.1% shooting, including 62.9% on 2-point attempts. He grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game and blocked 48 shots. He started all 63 games in his two years with Utah Tech.

After entering the transfer portal, Christensen received offers from several schools, including UH. Utah Tech guard Beon Riley, a former ’Bow, said Christensen would enjoy playing for UH. By committing to UH, Christensen was expected to fill the void in post. Bernardo da Silva and Justin McKoy completed their eligibility, and Mor Seck transferred to Fresno State.

Christensen weighed 275 at Utah Tech. Under UH conditioning coach Tanner Hull’s program, Christensen dropped to under 260 pounds with 10% body fat. “Eating right, being conscious of what goes into my body,” Christensen said. “The workouts take care of themselves in terms of losing the weight.”

Christensen has expanded his game from a back-to-the-basket center to a mobile 5 who can hit shots from three levels. His best skill is setting screens.

“That’s one of my points of pride,” Christensen said. “It’s great to score a bucket or block a shot, but I take pride in setting really hard screens for a teammate when the opposing defender runs into me super hard. That’s something I like.”

Scouting report — Posts

With the departures of centers Bernardo da Silva and Mor Seck, 6-10 Tanner Christensen was a natural replacement in the low post. Christensen has expanded his game from being a back-to-the-basket post. He has a dependable mid-range shot. He also is the ’Bows’ best screener, a key element in their offense. Jerome Palm, who was at two different junior colleges before playing for Valparaiso, has battled Christensen in preseason workouts.