Arena Notebook: Hawaii’s 5-0 mob provides motivation from the bench
The suitcases weren’t empty when Hawaii tripped to Spokane to begin week number three of its triumphant road trip.
Rainbow colored sneakers? Check. The Big West Tournament trophy? Gotta be in there somewhere. The Hawaii 5-0 mob? It was lugged out to the Spokane Arena on Friday morning when the Warriors tipped off in their first NCAA Tournament game in 14 years.
But for a second late in the second half, junior standout Stefan Jankovic stood up to signal for the bench shenanigans to simmer down.
“That was probably because the refs gave us like probably 15 warnings,” Jankovic said. “I mean, they said two, but they gave us a couple.”
The Hawaii 5-0 mob may not be as nationally known as the Monmouth bench, who’ve been featured prominently on ESPN throughout the season, but they got their last laugh with a collective “dab” dance as the the buzzer sounded on a 77-66 win over No. 4-seeded Cal.
“The Hawaii 5-0, our bench mob there, wow, they really give us good bench support and the refs told us to sit down,” said forward Stefan Jovanovic. “I didn’t want any technical or those cheap little points here and there.”
When the Hawaii 5-0 wasn’t making raucous noise, a jam-packed section of Warriors supporters sitting directly across the Hawaii bench did a fine job supplementing the noise.
Jankovic stood up signaled for the crowd to get loud before asking his mob to simmer down. They gladly obliged, drowning out whatever support traveled to the Pacific Northwest from Berkeley.
“We got it pretty good,” Hawaii coach Eran Ganot said. “Hawaii’s as good as it gets. Don’t forget, they’re traveling a long ways. We saw that at the Honda Center, we have seen it on the road during our road games this year; this group rallies around their teams and certainly with this team this year, with the adversity that we have been through.”
Vandal saviors
Matt Gibson called everybody. The Big Sky, the Pac-12, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga. Heck, he even called Whitworth College.
When Washington State ended its NCAA Tournament hosting relationship with Spokane Arena, the venue was desperate to find willing host.
Then someone suggested he call the University of Idaho.
“It didn’t even occur to me that Idaho might even be in the mix,” Gibson recalled thinking. “Luckily enough, I reached out to Rob Spear and he invited us down to talk to him … Gratefully for us they said yes.”
The benefits for Idaho? Branding (albeit a limited amount) and “a good chunk of change,” athletic director Rob Spear said.
Both agree that Spokane would have forfeited the NCAA Tournament if not for Idaho stepping up to commit manpower to running the event.
“We really felt an obligation to help Spokane and the community secure that sight moving forward,” Spear said. “To have the opportunity to have March Madness here, it’s a great thing for the Northwest.”
Idaho has already signed on to host the 2018 women’s NCAA Tournament in Spokane, and Gibson anticipates the university will make itself available to help Spokane bid on any of the 2019, 2020 or 2021 First and Second Round host sites.
“We had a really good conversation about what the future might hold and what kind of events we might bid on in the future. Right now I think we’re going to be bidding out for the next cycle,” Gibson said. “…We’re going to have to get past this and see what everyone wants to do but I think we’re really excited about the prospects of doing another one.”
His hope is Spokane will be able to get to a point where the community is alternating between the men’s and women’s tournaments on a yearly basis.
Smiles all around
Freddie Owens remembers vividly the expressions on the faces of his coaches, teammates and the Wisconsin fans in the Spokane Arena that day.
Down by 13 with about four minutes left, the Badgers stormed back to set up Owens for a 3-point look at the buzzer. He drained it to send Wisconsin to the Sweet 16 over Tulsa.
“From a personal point of view, for me to knock down a shot to put us ahead and seal the game, was great. Something you’ll never forget,” Owens said. “Looking at the expressions on everybody’s faces, the coaching staff, the players, the fans, it was a great experience, a moment I’ll never forget.”
Owens, now an assistant at Holy Cross, hoped some of that luck would swing the way of the No. 16 seed in Spokane this season when his squad drew the opportunity to play Oregon.
White it didn’t quite materialize in a 91-52 walloping at the hands of the Pac-12 Champions, Owens thinks Spokane was a worthy prize for the run his guys made.
“They can always look back on this and always remember it. No one can take this from them,” Owens said. “Guys can call themselves a champion. It’s been close to 15 years since I played and I still remember every detail, all of the big games and championships I’ve had, it seems like yesterday. It’s something they can carry the rest of their lives and tell their kids and grandkids about.”
Kermit Davis once stepped here
Kermit Davis may have the University of Idaho to thank for his coaching career still being alive today. Or, he just has his own tenacity and longevity to thank.
It was just about 19 years ago that he walked out on his second stint with the Vandals, after coaching for just one year. He bolted for an assistant job at LSU, and then landed at Middle Tennessee State in 2002.
Ten years later he guided the Blue Raiders to the NCAA Tournament, his third trip there after taking Idaho back to back in 1989 and 1990.
On Friday he guided them to one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, downing No. 2-seeded Michigan State 90-81.
“I don’t know if this is the best professional move,” Davis told the Spokesman-Review in 1997. “I know there are people in Idaho who won’t understand and I don’t expect them to. You won’t totally understand until you walk in a person’s shoes.”
The shoes he’s wearing would be nice ones to be in. The last coach to beat a No. 2 in the tournament parlayed the success into a job in the Pac-12.
But Davis isn’t any longer the coach who went from Utah State to Idaho to LSU all in the span of two seasons. He likened his success at MTSU to a long-time football coach who just recently retired.
“I used the example of Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech. Took him a while. He said he had the support of the administration,” Davis said following the shocking upset. “And now our players have gotten really good over the last five, six, seven years. We’ve won a ton of games. Just got to be thankful for a great administration, supportive community.”