“The Process” moved from Philadelphia to Honolulu in time for Hawaii basketball season.

The 2016-17 Rainbow Warriors are taking a patient approach with their big men as they try to rebuild a Big West championship frontcourt. UH’s power forward and center positions, strengths as of a few months ago, now skew young.

“It’s all relatively new to these guys; they’re learning on a daily basis,” said assistant coach Chris Acker, who works with the bigs. “But I think the cool thing about these guys is they’ve embraced the process. I think they’ll keep getting better and before you know it they’ll be right where we need them to be.”

Junior forward Gibson Johnson is the new face of the frontcourt. He’ll need help from Auburn transfer Jack Purchase at power forward while walk-on Darryl Matthews and youngsters Ido Flaisher and Zigmars Raimo get up to speed.

UH pits its lineup against SIU-Edwardsville at 9 p.m. Friday to tip-off the season as well as the Outrigger Rainbow Classic. The late start is because of the Armed Forces Classic afternoon doubleheader.

Philadelphia 76ers fans got used to the mantra “Trust the Process” when it came to the team’s rebuilding efforts through the NBA Draft the last few years. UH hopes its own recovery period doesn’t require that much getting used to.

When UH downsized in the offseason, that wasn’t exclusive to its NCAA-sanctioned scholarship count; its roster is plain smaller, too.

The biggest loss from March was easily Big West Player of the Year Stefan Jankovic, who declared for the draft a year early. Jankovic (team-highs of 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) went undrafted, but was signed to a partially guaranteed contract by the Miami Heat and now plays for the Heat’s D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Senior Mike Thomas had offseason wrist surgery and has shifted into a player-coach role in practices while he red-shirts the season for a final go in 2017-18. And center Stefan Jovanovic, a serviceable backup who could’ve been a featured player this season, chose to play his senior year at postseason-eligible Loyola Marymount.

Losing both 6-foot-11 Stefans in one offseason knocked UH down to size. Expect some small-ball lineups.

“We didn’t have to play that small last year, because we had Jovanovic and Janks and we kind of rotated them,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “So I think we’re going to have to play a lot different ways, at times.”

The 6-8 Johnson came to UH after winning a national junior college championship at Salt Lake Community College and will be counted on to provide a scoring threat down low. He’d never be mistaken for a true center, but has the task of playing the 5, the lone “in” man, in UH’s four-out offense. It’s similar to what Jankovic did last season, but with fewer excursions to the 3-point line.

The Utah native may be new to Hawaii’s system, but he’s the oldest player on the team at nearly 25. (He served a two-year church mission to Brazil.) Johnson has a throwback game — he has a repertoire of crafty hook shots and up-and-unders and loves taking charges at the other end.

“I think the most important thing that Gib brings to us that we need, is his fight and his sheer will not to be knocked off the block or put out of position by a defender,” Acker said. “He’s always fighting for his spot. That’s what makes him special.”

Purchase is a slender 6-9 and is at his best floating around the perimeter. The sophomore “stretch 4” spent last season acclimating himself to UH’s system as a redshirt.

He’s got an affinity for the 3-ball, but his best skill might be his passing. He had a team-high five assists in last week’s exhibition against BYU-Hawaii.

“I love that. My whole life I’ve been known as a shooter and I love shooting 3s,” the Australian said. “But I also like being able to see the floor as well from the perimeter. Find people, get them open and get the assist, or get the hockey assist so they can dump it inside or something.”

Matthews, at 6-5, has the build of a linebacker and makes his presence felt the next morning. But he was slowed all six weeks of the preseason as discomfort remains from an offseason procedure on his right ankle. He walked on at UH because of his familiarity with Acker, who coached him at West Los Angeles College.

When healthy, he figures to bolster the scout team.

“It’s something I’m just going to have to deal with,” Matthews said of the nagging injury.

Flaisher, a late offseason pickup from Israel, is the team’s youngest player, and also its only traditional center at 6-10. He is raw but earnest.

“He’s still developing, still learning how to play in this country, let alone play at this level,” Acker said. “For him, it’s a little bit like learning how to play basketball all over again. We understand that and I think in the future he’s going to be a guy that’s really skilled.”

Raimo is a 6-7 banger from Latvia who like Flaisher has plenty to absorb. He should appear off the bench once he serves a suspension in Friday’s opener for an unspecified violation of team rules.

“He brings a great toughness to our team,” Acker said. “So that’s what we’re expecting him to do right now.”