After negotiations and red-tape navigations, the University of Hawaii basketball teams will open their seasons against Hawaii Pacific this weekend in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Warriors will play host to the Sharks on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine will open on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Fans will not be allowed to attend either game because of coronavirus-related restrictions. But both games will air on Spectrum Sports.

“It’s been a long road to get to this point, and it’s been a challenging road with a lot of obstacles — not just for us, but every team, every person, really, and globally,” Rainbow Warrior coach Eran Ganot said. “Just getting a step closer to where we want to get to is something we should celebrate.”

For the Rainbow Wahine, it will be their first game since the Big West tournament in March — also before an arena empty of fans. That marked the surge of the pandemic, leading to cancellation of the rest of the 2019-20 postseason.

“I think that happened so quickly, no one had a chance to wrap their brain around it,” Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman said. In that fan-free game, she said, “there was so much energy coming from the benches, and (playing without fans) was so new, it was easy to have that energy. We’ve been maintaining energy and empty arenas for months and months and months.”

The pandemic shortened the summer conditioning programs for both teams. When the NCAA reset the starting date of the season, to Nov. 25, it led to a new training timetable, as well as a scramble for nonconference opponents. The UH teams are scheduled to open Big West play on Dec. 27 against Cal Poly — the men playing at home, the women in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Both UH teams began the lead-up-to-the-season phase of training on Oct. 14. But it would be another couple of weeks before they could advance their workouts to five-on-five, full-court drills. Injuries — many incurred from the go-stop-go circumstances — have impacted rotations. Four Rainbow Warrior starters transferred or completed their eligibility in the offseason, and a fifth, wing Samuta Avea, decided to opt out this season. Two key leaders, Justin Webster and Bernardo da Silva, have missed practices because of ailments. Nagging ailments also have impacted the Rainbow Wahine’s workouts.

UH officials worked diligently to secure the weekend games. The teams have followed state and county health/safety guidelines. Both teams are tested for the coronavirus three times a week.