HONOLULU – There is perhaps no team in Division II that had more personnel losses than the Chaminade University men's basketball team.
The Silverswors lost over 99 percent of their scoring and rebounding from a year ago, resulting in 11 newcomers to the 2026-27 team.
With limited practice times in September, transitioning to full-time in October, the 'Swords will see how the chemistry works when they open the season Friday in the Hoops in Hawai'i Tip-Off Classic at McCabe Gymnasium against the University of Tampa at 4:15 p.m.
The eight-team, 12-game exempted tournament is a championship/consolation event (like the Southwest Maui Invitational) with winners and losers brackets. The 'Swords will face either Lake Erie or Winona State at either 3 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. on Saturday with their final game on Sunday.
The team has three returnees with
Payton Lambrecht (Milwaukee, Wis./Sauk Valley CC/Whitefish HS) and
Jett Lehmann (Minden, Nev./Douglas) combining for eight points and three rebounds. The third returnee, guard
Bruce Carpenter (Fayetteville, Ga./Gannon University/McIntosh HS), who played at four different colleges, last at D-II Gannon, was injured all season.
Eric Bovaird, in his 16th year as head coach, hopes the new Silverswords offset all the losses, six with previous collegiate experience.
Kanaan Holder (Hudson, Texas/University of Arkansas Fort Smith/Hudson HS),
Nate Law (Houston/Oklahoma Wesleyan University/St. Thomas Episcopal HS),
Casey Steadmon (Louisville, Ky./Hawai'i Pacific University/Bethlehem HS) and
Mihael Tomic (Zabok, Croatia/University of Incarnate Word/Bosco Institute, Ind., HS) are four-year college transfers at Division II Arkansas Fort Smith, NAIA Oklahoma Wesleyan, crosstown rival Hawai'i Pacific and Division I Incarnate Word, respectively.
Ryan Raad (Los Angeles/College of Southern Nevada/Crescenta Valley HS) began his career at San Diego State before moving to the College of Southern Nevada. The other junior college transfers are
Kanyon Rice (Rocklin, Calif./Yuba College/Rocklin HS),
Sam Sivulich (Ogden, Utah/Snow College/Northridge HS) and
Zion Young (Wichita, Kan./Lamar State College Port Arthur/Life Prep Academy).
Bovaird also has four freshmen in
Logi Gudmundsson (Kopavogur, Iceland/Breidablik Kopavogur),
Marcus Jackson II (Urbana, Ill./Urbana),
Sebastian Peterson (Kihei, Maui, Hawai'i/Seabury Hall) and
Paul Stupperich (Trier, Germany/Max Planck Gymnasium Trier).
Following the tournament, Chaminade will take on Northwest Indian College then jumps back into Division II action in the PacWest/GNAC Challenge against Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Nov. 13, and Alaska the next day, both games at McCabe Gym.
After a Nov. 19 date against Grace University, which is in its first year of fielding intercollegiate athletics, the 'Swords will play in the first Aloha Kia Airport Hawai'i Aloha Cup, a round-robin challenge with fellow local Division II institutions, the University of Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific University, both on the road on Nov. 27 and Nov. 30, respectively, with the winner getting local hoops bragging rights. The home-and-home conference series between the three teams will still be a part of the annual PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
Chaminade, which was picked to finish seventh in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches poll, will open the conference on Thursday, Dec. 3 against Vanguard.
The PacWest Championships will be March 4-6 in La Mirada, Calif.
