The 2026-27 University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team will be unveiled on the court at 5 p.m. Sunday in a free exhibition against Hawai’i Pacific.
The game will be on the Warriors’ home floor in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center, without any TV or radio coverage. There is no admission charge, and parking will also be free.
UH returns only two players (guards Isaiah Kerr and Tanner Cuff) and no starters from last season’s historic Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament season, with Kerr the only returnee who played since Cuff was out of action as a medical redshirt.
Kerr and Cuff join 13 newcomers, but Kerr said fans should still expect a good team that plays well as a unit.
“We’re all super excited to get on the court (for a game) and not just play against each other in practice,” Kerr said during Thursday’s “Media Day” event in UH’s Gym 2. “This team is super excited but also I think super prepared, we’ve been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes. With each practice, (we’re) getting better, so we’re excited and ready to get going.”
While HPU competes in NCAA Division II, the Sharks have proved to be quite competitive against DI competition, pulling off a major upset at Boise State last season before falling short, 92-78, at UH three weeks later.
“Our team has always had a ‘Respect all, fear none’ (attitude), and that will not change,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “We’re very professional in our approach, I’ve spoken ad nauseum about my respect for the coaches and student-athletes and programs and schools in our state. We have two (former) Division II players in our program, Kerr (transferred from) and we brought in Jaden Matingou (from Point Loma), and those guys are awesome. So trust me, we have a lot of respect for anyone we play, including the programs in our state.
“They’re in a really good conference (Pac West), and so we will honor that every day.”