It is hard to imagine a better start to the regular season than what graduate transfer Tanner Christensen experienced last weekend:
FRIDAY: Nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a 96-61 victory over Life Pacific
SUNDAY: 20 points, eight rebounds, one block and one assist in an 80-69 win over San Jose State
MONDAY: 14 points, seven rebounds, one steal in a 76-66 victory over Pacific
The icing on the cake — it seemed — was winning Most Outstanding Player honors for the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic. But for Christensen, a 6-foot-10 center who transferred from Utah Tech, the crowning moment was hoisting the tournament first-place trophy, the first time UH got to do that since 2017.
“We’re just excited, glad we could come out with that championship,” Christensen said. “It was a good way to open the season, obviously it gives us a taste of winning. It’s just the beginning, we want to keep building on that. We see how fun it is and how exciting it is to win the Rainbow Classic.”
The title was the Warriors’ 16th in the 58-year history of the tournament, and Christensen is the 15th from UH to be named Most Outstanding Player, the most recent one having been Mike Thomas in 2017.
“He has incredible presence on both ends,” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said. “He draws so much attention. If you play him one-on-one, he’s really good. And if you bring support, he’s a good passer, very unselfish, he understands we have shooters and playmakers around him so we can play inside-out.
“He’s gotten big rebounds for us … And I know he’s an older guy who’s been around, but he’s made a big jump since he got here, and I think he’s got another big jump ahead of him. I’m just really excited about his progress, and looking forward to seeing that continue.”
Also making the Rainbow Classic All-Tournament Team were guards Tom Beattie and Marcus Greene.
Beattie scored 13 points against LPU, 16 points vs. San Jose State and 10 points with four rebounds against Pacific.
Greene had seven points, three rebounds and two assists against LPU, 11 points and four assists vs. San Jose State and 18 points, seven boards and two assists against Pacific.
Ganot said the three players honored — in addition to others who were not — show the balance of this year’s team.
“It’s kind of everybody, every night,” Ganot said. “Maybe a different guy who makes some offensive plays some nights, reading off each other who is the open guy. We have several guys we can go to — if we need it inside, we can go to Tanner, Gytis (Nemeiksa), Harry (Rouhliadeff), Jerome (Palm). If it’s on the perimeter, and maybe people start to hone in on Tom or Kody (Williams), then it opens things up for Marcus.
“It’ll all come back to each other at the end of the day, they’re all very unselfish, you can see it in the way that they play and support each other. It makes us hard to guard … and if we continue with this trend and keep working, it can be tough for opposing teams.”
The Warriors’ next game is a home matchup against Weber State at 5 p.m. Sunday in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
RAINBOW CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Tom Beattie, Hawai’i
Marcus Greene, Hawai’i
Elijah Fisher, Pacific
Elias Ralph, Pacific
Donovan Yap, San Jose State
Tanner Christensen, Hawai’i (Most Outstanding Player)