12) Jimmie Baker

Millions flock to Hawaii every year for adventure and relaxation in a tropical paradise but Baker came in an attempt to escape his past. A bruising 6’9″ power forward who Jerry West called the best high school player he’d ever seen, Baker chose UNLV because of its distance from his hometown of Philadelphia and his abusive, alcoholic father. His freshman and sophomore years were a revelation but Baker starting slipping as a junior, unable to avoid the trappings of Las Vegas nightlife. He transferred to Hawaii for his senior season to attempt a reset (Jerry Tarkanian liked to remark that he “traded” Baker for Boyd Batts which would, of course, be against NCAA rules) and was the Warriors’ leading scorer and rebounder in ’74-’75, but could not overcome his duel alcohol and cocaine addictions. They followed him to the ABA, where Baker averaged just 1.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game as a rookie for the Kentucky Colonels before getting sidelined indefinitely by a knee injury. While recuperating back in Hawaii, Baker was beaten, stabbed, and left for dead, in an escalation of an apparent dispute with a drug dealer. He survived against long odds and eventually did turn his life around, becoming an addiction counselor and building a family. His son Isaiah played college basketball in the ’10s at Holy Cross.

11) Predrag Savovic

How did a Montenegrin player end up 8,000 miles away, starring for a college basketball team in Hawaii? Very carefully. Born to Montenegrin parents in what is now Croatia and was then Yugoslavia, Savovic started his pro career at age 17 with a team in Serbia. He was recruited to the U.S. by UAB assistant coach Scott Rigot, who stumbled on the 6’6″ Savovic while visiting family in Belgrade. After a quiet freshman season at UAB, Savovic transferred to Hawaii seeking increased playing time (Rigot joined him there a year later, in what was surely not a coincidence). Basically an elder statesman at age 23 and with several years of pro experience, Savovic was the leading scorer on Hawaii teams that made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2001 and 2002, for the first and only time in program history. He went un-drafted in 2002 but signed with the Nuggets that summer and made 27 appearances in ’02-’03, averaging 3.1 points per game. Savovic spent the rest of his career in Spain with Bilbao Basket, eventually retiring as a player in 2009 and joining the team’s front office.

10) Yuta Tabuse

It still seems surreal in retrospect, a 5’8″ Japanese player who eschewed baseball and soccer for basketball and somehow made it all the way to the NBA. Born and raised in Yokohama, Tabuse became a national icon when he led Noshiro High School to three consecutive national titles. He turned down a bevy of pro contracts and sponsorship deals to enroll in the ESL program at BYU-Hawaii, a satellite campus one hour north of Honolulu with a Division II basketball program. But the pull was ultimately too strong and Tabuse signed with a pro team in Tokyo after just one season at the NCAA level. Against all odds, Tabuse eventually did become the first Japanese born player in NBA history, appearing in four games for the Suns in ’04-’05. After a few short stints in the G-League, Tabuse returned to Japan as a conquering hero, spending the rest of his career in the Japanese Basketball League, winning three championships.

9) Tolu Smith

Located on the North Shore of Oahu, Kahuku High is well known for its stellar football program and has produced 16 NFL players. Smith was the school’s first basketball superstar, getting named Hawaii Player of the Year in 2018, then All-SEC for Mississippi State in 2023 and 2024. Born and raised in Mississippi, where his father worked for the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Smith moved with his family to Oahu during high school, only to return to play for the Bulldogs in college. He went un-drafted in 2024 but signed a two-way contract with the Pistons and has now appeared in eight NBA games and counting. Smith became just the second Hawaiian high school graduate to reach the NBA, following Red Rocha.

8) Reggie Carter

Rick Pitino’s legendary Hall of Fame coaching career started humbly as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1975. His first big coup for the Warriors was recruiting Carter, a fellow New Yorker and All-American at Long Island Lutheran. With an assist from former Hawaii legend and then Hawks star Tom Henderson, Pitino was successful in bringing Carter to Oahu, a shocking victory over some of the nation’s most prestigious programs. The smooth 6’3″ guard led Hawaii in scoring and assists but it was a difficult Warriors season, to say the least. Coach Bruce O’Neill was fired mid-season, then Pitino took over only to be let go when numerous recruiting violations (not involving Carter) were unearthed. Carter returned to New York for the rest of his basketball career, transferring to St. John’s and then joining the Knicks for two seasons after they drafted him in the second round. Those ’75-’76 Warriors are the only Hawaii team ever to feature two future NBA players in Carter and Tommy Barker.

7) Tom Barker

Any expert who witnessed Barker at Weslaco High School in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas predicted NBA stardom for the 6’11” center with surprising speed and shooting touch. But by the end of his circuitous and onerous college journey, Barker was a fourth round pick fighting for a roster spot on the Hawks. It started at the University of Minnesota, where Barker came in heavily hyped but clashed with coach Bill Musselman and barely got off the bench as a freshman. Barker transferred to juco Southern Idaho for one year, then committed to powerhouse NC State in the summer of 1974 before backing out last minute and shifting to Hawaii. After two solid but unspectacular seasons with the Warriors, Barker flashed some of his incredible talent as a rookie with Atlanta, but ultimately lasted just two NBA seasons, averaging 6.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game before spending the rest of his career in Europe.

6) Bob Nash

Born and raised in Hartford, where he’s inducted in the city’s High School Sports Hall of Fame, Nash was recruited to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in 1970 and ultimately made the island his permanent home. Nash was the leading scorer and rebounding on arguably the greatest team in program history, the ’71-’72 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who finished with a 23-4 record, were ranked as high as #12 in the AP poll, and made the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. Nash soon after became the first Hawaii alum drafted in the first round, selected #9 overall by the Pistons, but never found consistent playing time in Detroit. After brief stints with the Kings and the San Diego Conquistadors, Nash returned to Hawaii, first to play for the Volcanoes of the CBA, then to spend nearly three decades as an assistant coach at his alma mater. His #33 became the first ever retired jersey in Hawaii program history but only after his son, Bobby, Jr., got a chance to wear it for the Warriors during the ’00s.

5) Trevor Ruffin

Making the trek from his hometown of Buffalo to his ultimate collegiate destination of Honolulu was hardly daunting for Ruffin. Much of his childhood had been spent on road trips across America, toting along with his father Levi, a longtime drummer for funk legend Rick James. Due to issues with grades, Ruffin’s collegiate journey took him to Cleveland and Yuma, Arizona for junior college stints before ending up with Hawaii. In his senior season, ’93-’94, Ruffin earned WAC Tournament MVP honors and led Hawaii to its first NCAA Tournament appearance of the modern era. A 6’1″ shoot-first guard, Ruffin had a difficult time catching at the next level, though he did put up solid numbers for the historically horrendous ’95-’96 76ers, averaging 12.8 points and 4.4 assists per game. Ruffin still holds the school record for points in a single game (42), and his 20.8 points per game in ’93-’94 remains the third highest single season mark in Hawaii history.

4) Anthony Carter

The swaying palm trees and luxurious beaches of Hawaii were a far cry from Carter’s impoverished childhood on the streets of Atlanta. He spent only one year in a high school basketball program, dropping out as a sophomore to instead play for cash in street games organized by local drug dealers. Carter somehow scratched and clawed his way to community college in California, then in 1996 onto Hawaii, where he led the Rainbow Warriors to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the early ’70s. Though he went un-drafted in 1998, Carter eventually had the lengthiest NBA career of any former Hawaii player, spending 12 seasons in the league with six different franchises. His most notable stint came with the Nuggets in the late ’00s, often playing as the starting point guard alongside Carmelo Anthony.

3) Red Rocha

Born and raised in the city of Hilo on the Big Island, Rocha was the first player from Hawaii to reach the NBA, and the only one until Cedric Ceballos over 40 years later. Hawaii hadn’t even been granted statehood yet when Rocha attended Hilo High School, where he failed to make the basketball team despite his 6’9″ height. He originally intended to attend University of Hawaii but the school paused its basketball program during World War II, driving Rocha to Oregon State. Overcoming the awkward clumsiness that plagued him in high school, Rocha became an All-American for the Beavers, a second round draft pick, and a two-time NBA All-Star. In 1955, Rocha became the first Hawaiian to win an NBA title, as the fourth-leading scorer for the Syracuse Nationals. After retiring as a player, Rocha returned to his roots, taking over as University of Hawaii coach in 1963. Under his tutelage, the Warriors had their greatest stretch in school history, highlighted by a major upset of Oklahoma in the 1971 NIT.

2) Tom Henderson

A 1972 transfer from junior college, Henderson established several superlatives for Hawaii players. He was the school’s first All-American, set the still-standing program record for career scoring (20.2 points per game), and became Hawaii’s first and still only basketball Olympic medalist in 1972 (a controversial silver). Henderson then became the highest drafted player ever from Hawaii (#7 overall), and the school’s all-time leader in NBA assists and steals. He’s also only the second Hawaii alum to win an NBA title, as the starting point guard on the ’77-’78 Bullets. Henderson averaged 10+ points and four-plus assists per game in his first five NBA seasons but his playing time and stats output vastly decreased after a 1979 trade to the Rockets. In 1995, he was inducted into the University of Hawaii Athletics Hall of Fame.

1) Cedric Ceballos

He’s one of just two players in NBA history born in Hawaii but it wasn’t by choice for Ceballos’ parents. They were visiting family in Maui in 1969 when a doctor told Ceballos’ mom that it was too late to fly back home to Los Angeles. Ceballos spent just the first few months of his life on the islands before moving back to his family’s permanent residence in Compton, where he eventually played prep ball for Dominguez High School. A second round pick of the Suns in 1990, Ceballos overcame long odds to quickly develop into an elite player, leading the NBA in field goal percentage in ’92-’93, winning a Slam Dunk Contest, and making his All-Star Game debut in 1995. But injuries hampered Ceballos throughout his career, limiting him to just two seasons out of 11 in which he played 70 or more games. A personal career highlight for Ceballos came in 1995, when he and the Lakers played a series of preseason games in Honolulu, attended by dozens of members of his extended family.

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