Pahoa Grad Fisher Earns Spot With Chaminade Hoops Program

The list of boys basketball players from the Big Island that have an opportunity to continue playing at the next level has been slim in recent years.

That didn’t stop Pahoa High School graduate Nick Fisher from trying out for the Chaminade Silverswords, an NCAA Division II institution affiliated with the Pacific West Conference.

Fisher’s tryout did enough to satisfy head coach Eric Bovaird, earning the 2013 Big Island Interscholastic Federation East Division Player of the Year a spot on the Silverswords’ roster for the upcoming season. According to a Chaminade spokesman, Fisher is officially listed as an invited walk-on, meaning he won’t be on the squad as a scholarship recipient.

The athletic Fisher is no stranger to Oahu. In his freshman year, he was a few miles away from the Chaminade campus when his Daggers won the Hawaiian Airlines / Hawai`i High School Athletic Association Division II boys basketball championship at the Stan Sheriff Center. Pahoa returned the following year and lost to Farrington in the 2011 championship game. Overall, Fisher and his teammates played in three state basketball tournaments.

He was also a standout in boys volleyball, a sport Chaminade does not offer. Fisher’s Daggers lost to Hawai`i Baptist in the New City Nissan / HHSAA Division II championship game, held at the Neal Blaisdell Center back in May. Three years ago, the Daggers lost in the championship game to Seabury Hall. The game was held next door to the Blaisdell at McKinley High School.

Fisher is one of six incoming freshman joining Bovaird’s squad for the 2013-2014 season, including Moanalua’s Kahanu Pu`ulei-Auld, the 2013 Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division Player of the Year. Other freshman include Kiran Shastri (Orlinda, CA), De`Von Boyd (Elk Grove, CA), Kuany Kuany (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), and Michael Sakazaki (Asan, Guam)

Chaminade’s 2013-2014 recruiting class also includes several NCAA Division I transfers. The most recent transfer, Michael Harper, previously played at Houston Baptist. The Huskies lost to the University of Hawai`i last November in the Rainbow Classic. Also joining the `Swords are Frankie Eteuati, formerly of Cal State Northridge, Christophe Varidel, who played in the NCAA Division I tournament last season with Florida Gulf Coast, and AJ Matthew, previously of Toledo.