NCAA Basketball: In-depth look at Hawaii star big man Bernardo Da Silva
By Bryan Mauro
Expectations for Da Silva in the 2023-24 season
Hawaii enters the season as one of the teams to beat in the Big West. They may not score a lot but they are not going to have to with the way that coach Ganot teaches defense and builds his team around it they are going to be in every game. Hawaii is not short on talent either. They do have a good portion of their roster returning from a season ago and they are going to have one of the best big men in the country on their roster.
Da Silva has never been on an all-conference team and has never fully gotten the recognition he deserves. That should all change this year. As mentioned earlier, the big man is going to have a significant role in the offense. He is great in the post and in the pick-and-roll. He is already one of the best rebounders and rim protectors in the Big West, if he continues on the upward trend he will see his name start appearing on leaderboards throughout the year.
The problem with Big West basketball and Hawaii especially is that he has zero exposure due to the time of their games. Big West all-conference is a realistic goal but the player of the year in the league is a long shot. Even if he does not win player of the year he will still have a breakout year if people start to recognize him.
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Da Silva should be one of the favorites for the Big West defensive player of the year. His defense is already elite and if he can cut down on the fouls he should easily be one of the nation’s leaders in blocks. He is not going to have to be the sole provider on offense this season as leading scorer Noel Coleman returns along with a lot of transfers and contributors from a season ago. Heading into the season the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are the favorite to win the conference and head to the NCAA tournament.