Junior college guard DeShawn Mitchell, a dynamic part of the Hawaii men’s basketball team’s 2011-12 recruiting class, did not meet NCAA academic requirements and will not join the Rainbow Warriors, UH coach Gib Arnold confirmed today.

“There are certain standards you need to achieve to be NCAA-eligible and eligible for the University of Hawaii, and unfortunately he was unable to reach those,” Arnold said. “He will be unable to play at the University of Hawaii, and we wish DeShawn all the best in wherever he goes or ends up. No hard feelings on any side whatsoever.”

Last season, the 6-foot-5 Mitchell was the fourth-leading scorer among all junior college players at 23.8 points per game at Snow College (Utah) before being dismissed from his team late in the season for disagreements with his head coach. He remained enrolled in classes, however, keeping his hopes alive to play Division I basketball again. Arnold and UH offered the talented Mitchell a chance at redemption when few others would.

But he couldn’t accrue enough credits toward graduation to have that chance; he was held to a higher standard than usual because it would have been three years since his last D-I stop, at UNLV his freshman season in 2008-09.

“He would’ve had to do some additional summer school. It became a little too much for him,” Arnold said.

The nomadic Mitchell, of New Jersey, made other short-lived stops on his way to Snow.

He would have had two years of eligibility remaining. Now Arnold has another scholarship to hand out for next season, or save for the future if he chooses.

Mitchell was one of two JUCO players and four high school players signed for next season. He did not return calls to his cell phone.