How Hawaii’s ‘Utah crew’ helped the Rainbow Warriors return to the NCAA Tournament

This past summer, Isaac Johnson and his wife, Audrah, moved there two days after getting married. Isaac, a 7-foot center who had played for both Oregon and Utah State, was transferring to the University of Hawaii for his final season of college basketball. Journeying 3,000 miles away from home was a major leap of faith, but the Johnsons had an instant community waiting for them in Honolulu.

Three of Isaac’s new Hawaii teammates — Hunter Erickson, Isaac Finlinson and Tanner Cuff — were all Utah natives, Latter-day Saints, returned missionaries, married and brand new to the island, just like him. “It’s been super nice just to have this community,” Johnson told the Deseret News. “It makes things very easy for us, it was an immense weight off my shoulders to know that we had people around us who shared the same beliefs.

” The Johnsons, Ericksons, Finlinsons and Cuffs attend church together each Sunday, often gathering again in the evening to play games or make treats and spending time at the beach during the week as well. The young couples aren’t merely teammates or fellow ward members — they’re a family, and such a bond has become a true blessing on the hardwood. Fresh off a Big West Conference championship, Hawaii is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016, facing No.

4 seed Arkansas Thursday afternoon at Moda Center in Portland. The “Utah crew,” as Erickson calls it, has been a key reason why the Rainbow Warriors are back in the Big Dance. Johnson, Erickson and Finlinson have accounted for 40% of Hawaii’s total scoring.