The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team represents the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in NCAA men's competition (women's sports teams at the school are known as "Rainbow Wahine"). The team currently competes in the Mountain West Conference (MW). The Rainbow Warriors have appeared six times in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2026.

The team got their first NCAA Tournament victory in 2016. The Rainbow Warriors are coached by Eran Ganot, with former NBA player Patty Mills serving as the team’s general manager.

Season-by-season results

Postseason history NCAA tournament results The Rainbow Warriors have appeared in six NCAA tournaments. Their combined record is 1–6. Number in parentheses is opponent's seed in tournament. The Rainbow Warriors' first tournament appearance with seeds (The NCAA started seeding teams with the 1978 tournament, with the seeding format used today beginning in 1979) was in 1994.

1972 N/A First Round Weber State L 64–91 1994 13 First Round (4) No. 15 Syracuse L 78–92 2001 12 First Round (5) No. 17 Syracuse L 69–79 2002 10 First Round (7) No. 22 Xavier L 58–70 2016 13 First Round Second Round (4) No. 23 California (5) No. 18 Maryland W 77–66 L 60–73202613First Round(4) No. 17 ArkansasL 78–97

NIT results The Rainbow Warriors have appeared in eight National Invitational Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 10–8. 1971 First RoundQuarterfinals OklahomaSt. Bonaventure W 88–87 L 64–73 1974 First Round Quarterfinals Fairfield Purdue W 66–65 L 72–85 1989 First Round California L 57–73 1990 First Round Second RoundQuarterfinals Stanford Long Beach StateNew Mexico W 69–57 W 84–79 L 58–80 1997 First Round Second Round OregonUNLV W 71–61 L 80–89 1998 First Round Second RoundQuarterfinals Arizona StateGonzagaFresno State W 90–73 W 78–70 L 83–85 2003 First Round Second Round UNLVMinnesota W 85–68 L 70–84 2004 First Round Second RoundQuarterfinals Utah StateNebraskaMichigan W 85–74 W 84–83 L 73–88

CIT results The Rainbow Warriors have appeared in two CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). They have a combined record of 1–2. 2011 First RoundSecond Round PortlandSan Francisco W 76–64L 74–77 2013 First Round Air Force L 65–69

NAIA tournament results The Rainbow Warriors have appeared in the NAIA Tournament one time. Their combined record is 0–1.

1949 First Round North Dakota L 53–70

Coaches

Dave Crawford1918–19192–5.286Edward Williford1919–19202–5.286Otto Klum1921–192313–8.619Charles Jones1923–192612–11.522Leslie Harrison1926–192912–10.545Claude Swann1929–19303–4.429Eugene Gill1930–194188–47.652Bert Chan Wa1941–1942, 1946–194712–13.480Art Gallon1947–195183–37.692Al Saake1951–1954, 1957–196392–124.426Ah Chew Goo1954–195731–46.403Red Rocha1963–1973112–136.452Bruce O'Neil1973–197642–32.568Rick Pitino19762–4.333Larry Little1976–1985103–143.419Frank Arnold1985–198711–45.452Riley Wallace1987–2007334–265.558Bob Nash2007–201034–56.378Gib Arnold2010–201472–55.567Benjy Taylor2014–201522–13.629Eran Ganot2016–present171–118

Notable players Retired numbers

The Rainbow Warriors retired their first number in program history on February 15, 2020, honoring number 33 for UH great and coach Bob Nash. The program retired its second number on February 21, 2026, honoring number 23 for Anthony Carter.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors retired numbers No.PlayerPos.CareerNo. ret.Ref. 23 Anthony Carter PG 1996–1998 2026 33 Bob Nash SF 1970–1972 2020

All-Americans 1971–1972: Bob Nash (Third team – "Basketball News", Honorable Mention – UPI, AP, Universal Sports) 1972–1973: Tom Henderson (Honorable Mention – NBA Coaches, Sporting News, Basketball Weekly) 1973–1974: Tom Henderson (First Team – Sporting News, NBA Coaches, Street & Smith's Basketball Yearbook, Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation) (Second Team – Basketball Weekly, Universal Sports), (Third Team- AP), (Honorable Mention-UPI) 1995–1996: Anthony Harris (Honorable Mention – Basketball Weekly) 1996–1997: Anthony Carter (Honorable Mention – AP) 1997–1998: Anthony Carter (Honorable Mention – AP) 2001–2002: Predrag Savović (Honorable Mention – AP)

NBA draft 1971: Tom Newell – Round 10 – Phoenix Suns 1972: Bob Nash – Round 1 – Detroit Pistons 1972: Dwight Holiday – Round 9 – Seattle SuperSonics 1973: John Penebacker – Round 13 – Cleveland Cavaliers 1974: Tom Henderson – Round 1 – Atlanta Hawks 1975: Jimmie Baker – Round 3 – Philadelphia 76ers 1975: Victor Kelly – Round 10 – Atlanta Hawks 1976: Tom Barker – Round 4 – Atlanta Hawks 1981: Aaron Strayhorn – Round 6 – Cleveland Cavaliers 1982: Clarence Dickerson – Round 5 – Washington Bullets 1989: Reggie Cross – Round 2 – Philadelphia 76ers

NBA free agents Anthony Carter Trevor Ruffin Predrag Savović

NBA champions Phil Handy Tom Henderson

EuroLeague and international players Jared Dillinger Carl English Isaac Fotu Stefan Janković Vander Joaquim Matt Lojeski Sammis Reyes (born 1995), Chilean player who played for the Chilean national basketball team and later switched to American football by the 2020s Christian Standhardinger Aaron Valdes (born 1993) Luc-Arthur Vebobe Brandon Jawato Akira Jacobs, Team Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Facilities The Rainbow Warriors play at the 10,300 seat Stan Sheriff Center, which opened in 1994. Originally called the "Special Events Arena" it was renamed in 1998 after Stan Sheriff, the former UH Athletics Director, who had lobbied for its construction. Previously, the team had played from 1964–1994 at the 7,500 seat Neal S. Blaisdell Center (originally the Honolulu International Center) and prior to that at the "Otto "Proc" Klum Gymnasium".

See also Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball

References

External links