Hawaii climbs WAC mountain to lead Pacific

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The collapse everyone was expecting never came.

Instead, Hawaii continues to roll on despite its bus rolling off an icy road in Wyoming and the loss of 7-foot-1 center Seth Sundberg.

The Rainbows won for only the second time ever at Colorado State last Saturday to complete a sweep of the Mountain Range road trip that included an overtime win at Laramie Thursday. Hawaii is the only Pacific Division school to sweep that trip.

"This club's blessed, no doubt about it," said coach Riley Wallace of his 18-4 squad that leads the Pacific at 10-2 with four games to play. "When you consider what we've been through the past few weeks, it's unbelievable."

Hawaii has overcome tremendous adversity. Considering the school suspended three players two weeks ago, Sundberg's ruptured spleen later that week against Air Force, the bus accident in Wyoming and Michael Robinson trying to play despite a 103-degree temperature at Laramie, the Rainbows winning two games on the road is amazing.

"It's one of the great stories," said UNLV coach Bill Bayno, whose Rebels were swept by Hawaii. "You've got to give them a ton of credit."

Colorado State's Stew Morrill said: "They're very confident. Their guard play right now is as good as any in the league. They're playing awfully well together and they deserve to be ranked."

They also deserve serious consideration for the NCAA Tournament. Wallace said he's going to wait and see, but he added that it's up to his team to not give the selection committee a reason to keep it out.

"We've got destiny in our own hands," he said. "To stay up there, you've got to win the big games."

Hawaii plays at New Mexico Saturday, then hosts Fresno State next Thursday. A split or a sweep would put the Rainbows in a very enviable position come Selection Sunday regardless of how they fare in the WAC tournament.

"They're for real," said New Mexico's Dave Bliss. "It's a credit to Riley and the job he has done."

Whitehead update

Wyoming guard LaDrell Whitehead, the team's leading scorer, is back on the practice floor and if all goes well, he'll return against UNLV next week. Whitehead has been out since mid-January when he dislocated his elbow against Hawaii.

"We're going to see how he does this week," said Cowboys coach Joby Wright. "He won't play on this road trip (to Fresno State and San Jose State) but these next three days are important."

Wright said he hopes his team doesn't try to re-adjust too much if and when Whitehead returns. The Cowboys are 8-2 since Whitehead, who was averaging 23 points a game, went out.

"There's no question my team has developed a more confident attitude that they can win without LaDrell," he said. "We've grown a lot as a team and we've had several individuals step up."