HPU looks for bounce back after offseason Roster Rollercoaster ride

HONOLULU – Welcome to Transfer Portal Park.

The collegiate free agency frenzy that follows each regular season can resemble an amusement park at times. Thousands of participants enter in a rush over the opening days and often exit with a mixed bag of results from their stay.

The Roster Rollercoaster has skyrocketed in use over the past few years across every level of college athletics, leaving very few programs without a ride. 

Just ask the Hawaii Pacific University men’s basketball program, who once again had to reload the roster after losing nearly 50% of the team’s scoring production from last year’s squad to graduation alone.

After averaging a team-best 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on the wing for the Sharks and earning a third-team All-PacWest selection, standout guard Joshua West also dipped his toes in the portal. The 6-foot-3 junior reportedly heard from multiple Division I teams (including the University of Hawai’i) and some of HPU’s regional Division II rivals but still left the door open for a return to the Sharks.

Of the 18 all-conference selections in the PacWest, 14 either transferred up to the Division I level or expended the final year of eligibility and graduated following the 2024-25 campaign. With an extensive group of the conference’s top-end talent moving on, HPU saw keeping West (alongside the other eight possible returners) as one of the program’s biggest offseason priorities.

While West mulled over several offers and interests, head coach Jesse Nakanishi and associate head coach Cam Flabel got to work in the portal. The Sharks raided the Big Sky to begin the transfer cycle, adding a pair of potential starters in former Weber State wing Nemanja Sarenac and Idaho State guard Quentin Meza on back-to-back days to open April.

Sarenac, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman originally from Serbia, comes to the islands with three years of eligibility remaining after appearing in 20 games last season with the Wildcats. The guard showed off a promising shooting touch from long range, knocking down 39% of his 3-pointers while playing at the Division I level.

Meza, a 6-foot sophomore, adds another scoring punch to the backcourt for HPU while providing elite ball control at the guard position. He finished his high school career as the fourth-leading scorer in Utah history and was named the state’s 2023 Mr. Basketball winner and Gatorade Player of the Year.

The guard began his college career at Wofford, appearing in 32 games and shooting 36% from distance before transferring to Idaho State last season. While with the Bengals, Meza saw his role shrink and forced the guard to bet on himself in the portal once again.

With a couple of Division I transfers already in tow, HPU got the best news of the offseason and regained a potential PacWest Player of the Year contender as Joshua West decided to pull his name from the portal on April 17 and stay in the islands for his final year of eligibility.

Zane Gaul, a standout 6-foot-10 forward out of Prescott High School (AZ) made his commitment to Nakanishi and the Sharks official after signing back on March 22. The incoming freshman will provide key depth and size as HPU lost starting center Jonas Visser, starting forward Charlie Weber and veteran center Tucker Pellicci to graduation.

The Sharks got a more experienced player to sign on in the first week of May, adding former Purdue-Northwest forward Quinton McCullough out of the portal and into the mix to compete for one of the open starting frontcourt spots. The 6-foot-6 bruiser grew up in Champaign, Ill., and should bring his workman-like mentality to the program as an elite rebounder with an affinity for tough finishes around the bucket.

Former Jefferson College forward Shawn Villanea also joined the HPU program in May with two years of eligibility remaining, adding another active 6-foot-6 body for the Sharks to deploy as the roster takes an overall downshift in size after multiple seasons rostering multiple bigs standing at 6-foot-10 or above.

Kahiau Bruhn, a 2022 graduate of Kamehameha-Kapālama who spent his first three collegiate seasons at Willamette University (OR), completed the new faces in the frontcourt for the Sharks after committing to HPU to open June. The bouncy 6-foot-3 wing put up 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 22 minutes per game last season for the Division III Bearcats and will suit up for another former Warrior in Nakanishi.

The Sharks also made two under-the-radar additions in the final week of May as JUCO sharpshooter Shinichi Itoh and prep guard Ike Sutton announced that they’d be joining HPU ahead of next fall. Itoh, a 6-foot-2 Japanese guard, spent his freshman season at Cuesta College (CA) and earned First-Team All-Western State Conference honors after knocking down 103 treys last year. 

Sutton, who scored over 1,000 points during his high school career and co-starred in his senior year with former BYU signee and current Utah Valley forward Isaac Davis, will join the Sharks after spending nearly a year abroad on an LDS mission in Mexico. The 5-foot-10 sharpshooting guard likely will need some seasoning at the college level but has the makings of a starting guard with a couple development cycles.

“I’m really excited with how this recruiting class turned out, not to mention bringing back all 9 possible returners,” said associate head coach Cam Flabel. “With a mix of toughness, elite shooting and high character, I can’t wait to get in the gym and pour time in coaching this group of Sharks.”

HPU will look to return to the PacWest Conference Tournament after missing out on the postseason last year. With a strong mix of returning talent (including one of four returning all-conference players in the entire PacWest) and new faces from different places, the Sharks have an opportunity to rise back up the standings under the steady leadership of a third-year staff.

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