Giving an official answer to a burning question around town regarding the status of University of Hawai’i men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot, acting UH athletic director Lois Manin issued a quick and direct statement through the Warriors’ media relations department last Monday reading:
“Coach Ganot and I met last week and we are committed to supporting the men’s basketball program, staff and student-athletes as we work towards a successful 2025-26 season.”
Fans and members of the media had pondered the status of Ganot, who completed his 10th season at the helm with a disappointing 15-16 overall record and stunning 7-13 mark in the Big West Conference. Worst of all, the ninth-place finish meant the Warriors did not qualify for their league tournament for the first time since 2010.
Home attendance numbers were down significantly, as Hawai’i won just three of its final 13 games.
Ganot has an overall record of 171-118 in 10 seasons at UH, but the Warriors have not made a postseason appearance since his first year, 2015-16, when they became the school’s first men’s basketball team to win an NCAA Tournament first-round game. Hawai’i has not reached the Big West Championship final since then, and has gone “one-and-done” five times in eight league tournaments since 2017.
In the meantime, Ganot has also built a selfless “team-first,” values-based culture that emits positive vibes. UH’s team grade point average has been consistently high, as is its graduation rate.
The student-athletes themselves are polite and respectful. Most of them were not heavily recruited, but they play hard and score high in effort, sportsmanship and positive representation of UH and state of Hawai’i as a whole.