After all this program is by far the furthest west on the time zones and by the time their games are finished on a Thursday or Saturday night it is about 4 o’clock in the morning on the East Coast.  It is incredibly hard to recruit with almost no TV exposure and the Rainbow Warriors (Jeff Gordon something) have to do some unique things (especially scheduling) to show they belonged in the mighty WAC which as we all know features most of its 9 programs from the Rocky Mountain region of the country.  The Warriors were just glad to be a part of this elite Mid-Major league and made several accommodations to maintain this relationship with their peers.  This one and done group was the anomaly in success but sadly is the way this program has to try and compete.  Coach Riley Wallace understands the reality that this program is not ever going to be able to get the top recruits to travel West so he likes his predecessors use the JC ranks to stock their cupboards.  This school of Rainbows rode the waves of some totally rad JC transfers to win some games in the WAC, at least when they were playing in the brand new 10,000 plus seat Stan Sheriff Arena which of course was proposed in the midst of the Fab Five fantastic run.  The long (and we do mean long) road trips were nowhere near as productive and unless this program figures out a way to move these islands closer to the mainland the success of the Fab Five will not be the rule but the exception and the chance to showing off their ‘Hulu’ style dancing to the rest of the world will be something you will just have to travel to the Five-O to see. 

Leading the way for the Rainbows this season will be juniors Bob Nash, Tom Barker and the aforementioned Mr. Henderson, all JUCO studs. Nash is a good scorer but excels on the boards.  A hard worker, Nash was as valuable as anybody because of his ability to cause havoc underneath.  On a team that had the reputation of being a finesse squad, Nash stood out as the type of physical player you need. Barker brings much more size as he goes a good six eleven to Nash’s six seven but definitely is more of a finesse player than the rugged Nash.  Don’t get me wrong Nash has some nice skills but makes his money doing the dirty work in the paint.  He did get stuck playing the three on a team that had a plethora of good guards but were weak on the wings.  This Hartford Connecticut product (yes he was tired of the cold weather) Nash can run the court and finish and is athletic but his game is better suited around the basket.  Barker has a diverse game for a true center as he can take other post players out to 15 feet with a nice shooting touch.  He can also board and is a solid low post defender though he does not block as many shots as you would think a six eleven guy would.  Barker is a Texas refugee who enrolled at Minnesota but did not like Bill Musselman and saw the writing on the wall with Mychal Thompson and Kevin McHale hanging around so he transferred to juco powerhouse the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls Idaho.  He dominated his one year there and then headed even further west and has proven he has the requisite skills to help any program in the country if need be.  Barker might not be McHale or Thompson but a near seven-footer with his all-around game will get a shot at the next level. This duo comes off as a rugged pair down low who will do the work it takes to get the job done.

Henderson, on the other hand, is a like a stylish sports car but with the engine of a muscle car.  This six three tough minded kid from South Carolina via the Bronx is by far the biggest recruit this program has ever had.  He was so good at San Jacinto Junior College (if you think Jucos at a D-1 level CSI would be Duke and San Jacinto would be Kentucky) that he was invited and made the national team for the World Championships.  He was on the infamous team that got screwed by the three replays of the game against the Russians which still leaves a boil under he and his teammates ass! Henderson has a complete game that is on par with the best guards in the country but playing out here he never got the recognition he deserved.  Henderson will lead the team from his point guard position though with his ability to score Wallace will have him playing the off guard often this year. He is a smooth operator who can hit the jumper but is most adept at driving the lane or leading the team on the fastbreak and then dishing to a teammate for a good look.  Henderson is a winner.    He has a bright future on the Islands and then in the States as he was will almost surely play pro ball with his skills and desire. And he will for sure make some team a fine two-way point guard that will contribute to a team’s success.  But for now he is the best player ever to suit them up for the Rainbows and he has a goal to lead this program into national prominence. 

The Big three from the Rainbows will have plenty of support.  Melton Werts are John Penebacker are two other juniors who will carry the flag for this program. The difference in these two and most of their teammates is that they are third year juniors who have played here for two years.  They played big minutes early on last season and then watched as Wallace went with others who may have a little more talent.  These two Warriors are solid players who can score a little and board a lot (especially Werts) and give the team something it lacks.  Consistency!   Werts has some size but Penebacker is only six foot three and shows the weakness this program has always had.  Finding some big guys who can bang with the big boys of the WAC, which might just be the biggest collection of front line players of any conference in the country, was something Wallace really went after and that is why he brought in some many JC kids.  Werts was actually the starting center the first three games of the year next to senior Tony Davis, who is also six nine, so the Rainbows did have some size down low.  Neither is as talented as the guys Wallace will bring in and though Werts played most of the year in a reserve role his contribution by the end of the year was solid. Davis is too thin for this league at 195 pounds. Another Davis got some limited minutes as well up front.  Junior Al (just win baby) Davis goes six seven and can score but got surpassed by the new talent coming in.  Penebacker is a disciplined stud athlete who has a 41 inch vertical jump but giving up ten or twelve inches is no way to make an impact no matter how high you jump.  He hung around until past mid-season but like Werts was basically getting mop up duty by then.  Sophomore Reggie Cross is hoping to give a spark up front with his size and toughness.  A true power forward with the build to take up and make some space in the paint Cross had a superb last ten games and may be the best banger on the team.  The Rainbows need his toughness as they are too often pushed around in the paint.  At six eight and 240 pounds Cross has the beef down low to bang with anyone.  He took a long route to get here and had to sit out much longer than most transfers since he had in tow a wife and small child but this kid might be the best of the lot down low.  He only played 22 games but Cross is the favorite to start next to Nash and Barker in what could be an elite front line next season.  If he continues to improve on the court as he has in the weight room Cross might be the best they have ever had here down low.    

The wings for the Rainbows were a little less consistent. One of the strangest stories of the season was Junior Gavin Smith.  A transfer from UCLA (yes he did not get to play much there) Smith started the first few games at the three and showed he can flat shoot.  Five games in however he went AWOL and was not heard of the rest of the year.  Many surmised that he had taken up with some drug dealer’s woman on the set of a local movie and had fallen into a bad situation.  Smith is or was a true Renaissance man with his hands in many different pockets but his main love was women and this time it might have caught up with him.  Sophomore Chris Gaines (No he is not the weird country pop singer character of Garth Brooks) was a huge recruit from Iowa’s Waterloo High and took over the starting role from Smith when he got lost.  He started most of the games (he did miss a few due to some grade issues around the semester break). Brooks er Gaines is undersized as well and is better suited as a two guard but had to play the three to get on the court and like most would guard anyone to get some Pt on the court.  You think guarding Cooper and Ainge is hard try matching up with Fennis Dembo or Devin Durrant or even worse Tom Chambers when the Utes go with their big lineups when your six three. 

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (I always wondered where Jeff Gordon got that moniker) had a forgettable season in the WAC conference.  They ebbed the flow of back and forth tides to finish with 10 wins. Not exactly World beaters especially with only 3 conference wins! Still Coach Riley Wallace has continued the Rainbow tradition of recruiting Junior College transfers to try and keep up with the Joneses (and the Ainges) of the WAC.  But Wallace has also brought in a plethora of freshmen to try and build for the future and finally get some continuity in this program.  He had a chance to see some talented young players develop and get plenty of minutes for his Rainbows.  Too bad most of the talent was in the back court which is by far the most talented part of this program’s history and now future.   Ironically. the whole roster was littered with either juniors or freshman as the ways this program recruits there is always gaps in talents (and outcomes).  Hopefully that is a good omen for next year as this was definitely not an up year with their unique scheduling that featured the longest (in both miles and length of time) road trips in the country.  But there is some talent on this roster and most of it is coming back.  The key is being able to form some cohesiveness on the court as most of these kids barely know each other until the season starts and with all of the shuffling of players it is hard to keep the chemistry together.  This year showed that but next year Wallace has promised to rotate in just 9 or 10 players for the entire year and develop a real basketball team.  Now if he can just keep some of his underclassmen motivated and away from the beaches of Waikiki this team will be all right.