Three experienced transfers with Utah connections — Tanner Cuff (Evansville), Isaac Johnson (Utah State) and Hunter Erickson (Utah) — will bring a combined nine years of Division I college basketball experience to the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team next season.
All three are from the state of Utah. Cuff and Erickson played together at Salt Lake Community College, while Cuff and Johnson were teammates at American Fork High School.
“We are extremely excited to add Tanner, Hunter and Isaac to the team,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “They add a wealth of experience and leadership and give our program an immediate boost. It’s a group we look forward to coaching and we’ll lean on them heavily as we compete for a Big West championship.”
Here is a closer look at each player, according to the UH Athletics Web site:
TANNER CUFF | G | 6-7 | 210 | American Fork, Utah (Evansville)
Rated a 4-star transfer by @EvanMiya … Appeared in all 67 games for Evansville over the past two seasons…Started all 32 games for the Purple Aces in 2024-25 … Averaged 8.8 points, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 6.2 rebounds in 32.8 minutes per game … Scored a career-high 22 points against Valparaiso…Grabbed double-digit rebounds in four games in 2024-25.
Appeared in all 35 games in 2023-24 in his first season at Evansville … Named to the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team … Averaged 7.4 points, 2.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 2023-24 … Recorded a double-double against Chattanooga with 10 points and 11 rebounds … Finished his time at Evansville with a career DI shooting percentage of .492
Spent two seasons at Salt Lake CC before Evansville … Averaged 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman … suffered an injury four games into sophomore season and took a medical redshirt …
Averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists as a senior in high school while playing for his father at American Fork HS.
Ganot on Cuff: “Tanner is a winner. He’s a high-level decision maker with size and has a great feel for the game. We love his approach. He plays a selfless brand of basketball and always looks to make his teammates better.”
HUNTER ERICKSON | G | 6-3 | 200 | Provo, Utah (Utah)
Played four seasons of NCAA Division I basketball at Utah and Brigham Young … Appeared in all 70 games for the Utes over the past two seasons … Scored a career-high 18 points against Radford … Tied for program record with 37 games played in a single season in 2023-24 … Came off the bench against Hawai’i and scored a then-career-high 15 points on six field goals.
Started his collegiate career at BYU … Appeared in 27 games across his first two seasons with the Cougars … Appeared in all three of BYU’s NIT games in 2021-22.
Spent a year at Salt Lake CC in 2022-23 … Teammates with Tanner Cuff … Started 30 of 34 games at SLCC … Helped lead the Bruins to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament with a 29-5 record … Won the NJCAA Region 18 title … Named to the Scenic West Athletic Conference all-region first team … Averaged 12.1 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds in his only season at SLCC … Scored double-figures 23 times, with three double-doubles … Scored a career-high 37 points against North Platte CC.
Averaged 22.6 points as a senior at Timpview High School … Recorded a career-high 38 points and 15 rebounds as a senior … Named to the 5A All-State First Team by Deseret News … Named to the All-State Second Team by USA Today.
Ganot on Erickson: “Hunter plays an exciting brand of basketball that will bring fans off their seats. He’s an explosive athlete, great defender and a clutch performer. With four years of high-major basketball at BYU and Utah under his belt, we expect him to take on a big role in our program.”
ISAAC JOHNSON | C | 7-0 | 227 | American Fork, Utah (Utah State)
Played three seasons of NCAA DI collegiate basketball at Utah State and Oregon … Appeared in 65 games over the past two seasons for the Aggies … Appeared in the past two NCAA Tournaments with the Aggies … scored a career-high 19 points with four blocks in an upset win over Texas Christian in the first round of March Madness in 2024 … Appeared in all 35 games for the Aggies in 2023-24, tied for third-most single-season games played in school history … Started 31 games that season.
Appeared in 13 games for Oregon in 2021-22.
A four-star recruit out of American Fork High School … Ranked as the No. 53 recruit in ESPN’s Top 100 recruits in 2019 … Named to the Deseret News All-State Third Team … Averaged 18.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a senior … Averaged 19.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as a junior.
Ganot on Johnson: “Isaac brings a championship pedigree. He’s won everywhere he’s been and his experience competing in the last two NCAA Tournaments bodes well for us. We absolutely love his ability to shoot at his size and create mismatches with bigs at all levels.”