The reloading of the Hawaii basketball roster began with a plan.
After their appearance in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the Rainbow Warriors entered the offseason seeking to replace six seniors and two rotational players testing the free agent market. Associate head coach Brad Davidson, who coordinated the offense and was an influential recruiter the past five years, accepted an assistant’s job at USC.
First item was to secure renewed pledges from guards Tanner Cuff and Isaiah Kerr. Cuff was projected to be the ’Bows’ opening-night point guard before suffering a torn ACL during a preseason practice. Kerr emerged as facilitator, outside shooter and aggressive defender. He clinched two victories by forcing at-the-buzzer misses.
The ’Bows won the 2026 Big West Tournament with the league’s oldest roster. They sought to attack the NCAA transfer portal early while the NIL market was stable and panicky recruiters from rebounding programs did not drive up compensation packages.
Similar to the past two recruiting classes, the ’Bows prioritized adding talent at the point and post. They signed point guard Jaden Matingou of Division II Point Loma Nazarene. Chance Trujillo, who finalized his written commitment to UH on Saturday, played the point, off guard and wing at Utah Tech the past season. The ’Bows also signed 6-11 Houran Dan of Seattle University and 6-9 Zack Davidson of Northern Arizona.
Matingou hopes to follow Kerr, who previously played at Chico State, in the trend of Division II players making successful jumps to Division I. Matingou led the PacWest with 4.3 assists per game. Trujillo brings deep-shooting skills to an offense that values space and pace.
“Dunkin’ Dan” grew up in Neimenggu, also known as Inner Mongolia, which is an autonomous region of China. Dan played for China’s national team in the FIBA U19 World Cup, where he scored 10 points in 18 minutes against the United States.
Davidson, who began his career at Montana, averaged 14.6 points in the first 14 games of the 2025-26 season. But he suffered two separate injuries to his right foot and, after playing in two more games, sat out the rest of the season. He said he has healed.
Because of back and leg ailments, Marcus Adams Jr. a 6-8 forward/wing, was limited at Arizona State the past season. But the ’Bows were familiar with Adams’ skills. With Cal State Northridge in 2025, Adams averaged 19.5 points in two victories against UH.
Each of the seven (and counting) newcomers has a tie to UH, the staff or Hawaii. Guard/wing Scotty Belnap, who recently completed a two-year church mission, and Davidson were teammates at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif. Belnap has known UH head coach Eran Ganot and assistant coach Gibson Johnson since the eighth grade. Davidson used to accompany his father on business trips to Hawaii.
Guard Tiger Cuff, who completes a church mission in June, is the younger brother of Tanner Cuff. This will be the first time the brothers, who are five years apart, will be basketball teammates.
Adams has played against UH twice in the Stan Sheriff Center in 2025 — with CSUN in March and ASU in November. During a Hawaii vacation the last summer, Adams had a drawing of a hibiscus tattooed on his right arm.
Matingou has competed against Hawaii Hilo, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific in PacWest games. It was the friendship between his mentor, pro basketball player James Nunnally, and UH assistant coach Rob Jones that led to the Matingou’s recruitment.
“The more I learned about the program, the more I fell in love with it,” Matingou said. “I realized it was going to be the right fit for me.”
Last summer, Dan said, “I toured Hawaii with my girlfriend. It was pretty good, very nice. I loved it, actually. … Every Asian loves Hawaii.”
Isaac Finlinson, who was a starting wing for UH the past season before entering the portal, strongly recommended the ’Bows to Trujillo. Finlinson and Trujillo were Snow College teammates two years ago. Trujillo also played in the UH-hosted Rainbow Classic the past November. Trujillo said he knows the Cuff brothers from growing up in Utah, and has played against Adams.
“I’m excited to get to work with them,” Trujillo said. “I think we can form some chemistry and have a lot of synergy throughout the season.”
Mater Dei HS (Calif.); Completed 2-year church mission
American Fork (Utah) HS; Completes 2-year church mission in June