Noah Allen might not be the second coming of Gavin Smith, but the Hawaii basketball team will gladly take him.
Allen will play his final season as a college player in Manoa as a transfer from UCLA, just as the late Smith did in the late 1970s in becoming the Rainbow Warriors’ single-season points-per-game record holder at 23.4.
Allen, who announced his signing with UH for the 2016-17 season on Tuesday, is looking for an opportunity coming off three seasons as a reserve with the Bruins. He is the fifth player to announce a commitment to UH for the 2016-17 season.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Allen has one year of eligibility remaining and can play right away; he is a graduate transfer who attained his undergraduate degree in three years.
The Pacific Grove, Calif., native was a decorated player out of Palma High School, averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds as a senior. He was recruited there by UH head coach Eran Ganot, then an assistant at Saint Mary’s, and UH assistant Adam Jacobsen, then an assistant at Pacific. Allen wound up choosing UCLA, but the connections endured.
Allen took an official visit to the Manoa campus last month.
“I know Coach Ganot and Coach Jacobsen really well … my relationship with them was important and once I visited I got to see how special of a place Hawaii is,” Allen messaged the Star-Advertiser. “I am really excited! It’s a great opportunity and I am blessed and thankful to the coaching staff and the University of Hawaii.”
UH officially announced the signings of Allen and Latvian forward Zigmars Raimo on Tuesday. Raimo’s verbal commitment was previously reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Allen is looking for a chance to be an impact player. As a junior in the recently completed season, he contributed 1.0 point and 0.7 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per game in 24 contests with the Pac-12’s Bruins. His skill set is that of a slasher with some ball-handling ability.
His most meaningful action came as a sophomore, when he put up 1.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg and 0.9 assists per game in playing all 36 games of UCLA’s 2014-15 season.
Allen was aware of the NCAA’s postseason sanctions on UH that will deprive him of the ability to play in another NCAA Tournament. He was a member of two Sweet 16 teams at UCLA.
“I just want to help the team win games,” Allen said. “My time at UCLA was great (and) it didn’t go how I had planned from a basketball perspective, but I learned a lot, I will always be an alumni and I am thankful to the coaches and everyone else that made it special.”
With Allen and Raimo, UH has three more scholarships to assign for next season.
“We are very excited to be adding a great player, and committed student to our program,” Ganot said in UH’s official release. “Noah is a high character person with a great work ethic. We feel that his versatility as a player is his biggest strength — he can defend, rebound, pass, and score. He is committed to getting better and is very excited to be joining our program.”
The 6-foot-7 Raimo, meanwhile, is the first post player of the 2016 class. He has experience with the Latvian junior national team.
“Zigmars is a leader and brings a wealth of international experience to our program,” Ganot said. “He has played at the highest level in Europe and for one of the most respected clubs in Latvia — VEF Riga. He brings great versatility to our program with the ability to pass, defend and rebound from different positions.”