HONOLULU – With three returnees and 12 newcomers, the Pacific West Conference Preseason Poll suggests the Chaminade University men's basketball team are projected among the mid-level finishers with a ninth-place finish.
The Silverswords will certainly look to try and turn the prediction upside down.
After their exhibition opener against Division I University of Hawai'i last Saturday, an 85-80 loss on Maui, there seems to some optimism that they can do just that.
The 'Swords will find out for real when they open the regular season in the annual PacWest/GNAC Challenge this weekend against the Alaska schools – Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks – along with co-host Hawai'i Pacific University.
Chaminade faces Alaska on Friday's opening day at HPU's Shark Tank. The Challenge moves to McCabe Gymnasium on Saturday against Alaska Anchorage with tipoff at 5 p.m.
Kameron Ng (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Univ. of Hawai'i Hilo/Saint Francis HS),
Brycen Shackelford (Folsom, Calif./Folsom) and
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) are the lone returnees for the 'Swords.
Eric Bovaird, who is entering his 14th season as head coach, and his staff brought in nine players who have previous collegiate experience, six of whom played in the junior college ranks last year. The 'Swords also have three freshmen in
Mehmet Batug Gur (Izmir, Turkey/Gelisim),
Jett Lehmann (Minden, Nev./Douglas) and
Connor Rowan (Tokyo, Japan/Yokota).
In the exhibition against the Rainbow Warriors, the returning veterans made their mark (Thomas, 14 points and Ng, four assists). The biggest impacts in the game came from
Amound Anderson (Eastvale, Calif./Fullerton College/Leuzinger HS), who had previous Division I stops at Southern Utah and CSUN, had a team-high 19 points while
Jackson Last (Hurricane, Utah/Robert Morris University/Hurricane HS), a Robert Morris transfer, had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Junior college transfer
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) had 14 points while fellow JUCO transfer
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) nearly had a double-double (10 points, eight boards).
The other transfers include
Quadry Adams (Piscataway, N.J./Sacramento State/St. Thomas Aquinas HS),
Zeki Cavli (Bodrum, Turkey/McCook JC/Myerscough College HS),
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy),
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) and
Mykiah Wyche (San Jose, Calif./Foothill College/Piedmont Hills HS).
Following this weekend's Challenge, the 'Swords will have contests against Alaska (Nov. 11) and Nov. 20 against Northwestern Indian College. The team will participate in their second pre-conference tournament in the Hoops in Hawai'i Classic which, like the PacWest/GNAC Challenge, will be a split venue against Grace Christian on Nov. 30 at the Shark Tank and Dec. 1 against Adelphi at McCabe Gym.
With PacWest expansion this year, the 20-game conference slate is unbalanced meaning the Silverswords will face six opponents just once this year. That includes the three conference newcomers Jessup University, Menlo College and Vanguard University.
Chaminade opens its PacWest schedule on Sunday, Dec. 8 with a home meeting against the University of Hawai'i Hilo. Their first regular season game outside of O'ahu is on Dec. 17 when they open their three-game northern California road trip against Menlo.
Aloha Senior Night is Monday, Feb. 10 against Fresno Pacific.
