The University of Hawaii basketball team is solidifying the perimeter with a commitment from an accurate deep-shooting guard.

Amoro Lado of College of Southern Idaho said he has accepted a scholarship offer and will join the Rainbow Warriors this summer. Lado will have three seasons of UH eligibility.

“I’m really excited to get out there, for sure,” Lado said in a telephone interview. He said the UH coaches, future teammates and the program’s direction factored in his decision.

At 6 feet 3, Lado can play the point or two guard. He is a skilled ball-handler who averaged 12 points and 3.3 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game this season. Lado connected on 47% of his 3s.

“Just countless hours in the gym,” Lado said of his shooting efficiency.

With help from a teammate or shooting machine, Lado will put in extra work each day. The machine has a netting that “rebounds” shots, then fires out passes to the shooter. Lado said he will place four balls into the machine, and auto-set passes at 3-second intervals. Depending on whether he had practiced earlier, Lado will take between 300 and 1,000 shots per session.

“Once I feel satisfied, which is never, or when I get tired, I hang it up and come back the next day and keep doing it,” Lado said.

He often challenges himself with outdoor workouts, where his shot has to contend with the wind and other elements.

For ball-handling discipline, Lado patterns a workout used by NBA All-Stars Kyrie Irving and James Harden. He wears specially made gloves while going through drills. “They make your hands super slippery,” Lado said. “You can’t even hold onto the ball.”

Lado admittedly made some “bad choices” as a youth in San Diego. He then embraced basketball. “The next thing you know, I wasn’t a bad kid anymore,” he said. “I was winning basketball games.”

Lado moved to Caldwell, Idaho, when he was in middle school. “It was a culture shock.” Lado said. “I’m still a city guy. But at the same time, I was young, I made friends quick.”

Lado excelled in basketball, making varsity near the end of his freshman year. As a Vallivue High senior, Lado averaged 24.8 points in 2019, the most in Idaho’s 4A/5A classification since 1997. He was named state player of the year in 2019.

Lado said he finds motivation from the memory of his older brother Edward, who died of a seizure during Lado’s freshman year.

“Dealing with that made me hungrier,” Lado said. “That was my ‘why?’ Why do you play? Why do you play hard? Why do you work out so much? There are many reasons, but that’s one of them. I feel I have choices. I’m here and he’s not. While I’m here, I have to make my time worth it. I have to make every second, minute, hour count by playing hard all the time.”