Hawai‘i Pacific wants to be your new favorite college basketball team

On Monday night, the Hawai‘i Pacific men's basketball team captivated the college basketball world with a stunning 79-78 road victory at Boise State.

The NCAA Division II Sharks were merely meant to be a tune-up opponent for the Broncos, a team that barely missed out on an NCAA Tournament bid in March and one viewed by pundits as one that still has the ability to do so in 2026.

HPU jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the game's first two minutes, but the Broncos weren't going to falter that easily. What ensued was a barnburner, a contest that had 11 ties and 14 lead changes throughout the duration of the game. Offensively, Hawai‘i Pacific shot efficiently enough to keep itself in the game. Despite being at a size disadvantage, the Sharks shot 49.2% from the field (30-61), 34.6% on 3-pointers (9-26), and 90.9% on free throws (10-11).

The Sharks led 77-70 with three minutes remaining, only to see the Broncos push them to the final possession. The Sharks got one last stop. Suddenly the upset was complete.

"We were just so focused on one possession at a time, just be the best versions of ourselves one possession at a time," head coach Jesse Nakanishi told Aloha State Daily following a recent practice. "All of a sudden, every media (timeout) that went by, we were still in the game. We were just clawing and trying to win every possession and looked up at the end and we had one more point. That was pretty amazing. Just a great bonding and life experience for our guys."

Joshua West dropped a game-high 23 points and added four steals for the Sharks. When the team got back to the locker room, he had to put his phone in do not disturb mode due to the amount of congratulatory texts he was receiving.

"My phone was blowing up. It was just a lot of messages, a lot of congratulations for the most part, because we made history, and what we did is not something you just see on an everyday basis," he said.

Once the score went final, fans across the college basketball world were incredulous. How could a humble DII school from Hawai‘i come to Boise and defeat an NCAA Tournament contender in their house?

Social media posts both praising Hawai‘i Pacific University and poking fun at its shortcomings were going viral. "Boise State lost to a strip mall," read one post on X. One thing was clear: the Sharks had just pulled off their signature win as a program, and the upset of the college basketball season thus far.

Hawai‘i Pacific captured the attention and hearts of the college basketball world. Now it wants to keep it.

HPU has tried to make the most of its moment, ramping up its activity on multiple social media platforms. Plans are in place to sell more merchandise online.

"We're always looking for ways to grow our brand," Nakanishi said. "We do a lot of community service and, of course, fundraisers and game promotions and you name it, but to have a win like that that trumps everything. To garner some positive attention, really proud that we're able to not just grow our brand but for the school to hopefully attract more attention overall."

"HPU is on the map a little bit, and some of its poking fun and stuff, but it'll have good long-term impacts with us in terms recruiting and retention," added associate head coach Cameron Flabel. "We're excited about it. It's all good (exposure)."

Because Hawai‘i Pacific is a Division II school and Boise State is a Division I school, NCAA rules state that the game will only count towards Boise State's official record and not Hawai‘i Pacific's. The semantics will not erase what was a monumental moment for both the team and the school. Just ask Flabel.

Flabel grew up in Boise. Because his father attended the University of Idaho, BoIse State's rival, Flabel spent his childhood cheering against the Broncos.

"We had a good section behind our bench, and I could see my little brother jumping up and down every time we hit a 3 or my mom, my dad, all my friends. I probably had 75 family and friends there," Flabel said. "There were 11,000 (Boise State fans) there. A lot of our players had some family there. We had a good little Shark section, maybe 150 people there cheering for us. It made a big difference for us. It was cool. At the buzzer, they were the only people making noise."

The stark contrast in resources between Boise State and Hawai‘i Pacific was the basis behind the banter once the Sharks came out victorious. Evidence of it was clear before and during the game as well. While Boise State lists a total of 20 on its coaching and support staff, Hawai‘i Pacific has three coaches, one graduate assistant and one student assistant.

Result aside, the game between Boise State and Hawai‘i Pacific was not without its drama. HPU, which was paid in the neighborhood of $17,000 to play Boise State, did not bring a trainer on the trip. West, who caught a cramp in his calf, was seen getting dragged off the floor by a Boise State trainer.

When asked about the incident, Nakanishi says Hawai‘i Pacific will defer to a statement made by school vice president and chief marketing communications officer Jeffrey Rich.

The statement, provided to Aloha State Daily on Thursday, reads: "In the wake of Hawai‘i Pacific University’s impressive win over Division I opponent Boise State, an unfortunate incident occurred in which a Boise State athletic trainer inappropriately dragged an HPU player off the court while he was suffering an injury. We are relieved to report that the injury to HPU student-athlete Joshua West is not serious. However, we have expressed our concern to the Boise State Athletics Department regarding the manner in which the situation was handled. Under no circumstances should an injured player be treated in such a manner. The health, safety, and dignity of all student-athletes must remain the highest priority in collegiate athletics."

After flying back to the Islands on Tuesday, the team returned to practice in its rustic gym on Wednesday. The Shark Tank, nestled in Mānoa, sits in a former Franciscan adult day center. The only ventilation available, other than a large fan that's placed on the ceiling, is an opened door or window.

Going to class, of course, remains part of the daily grind. Mopeds are a popular form of transportation for the players, who take classes at HPU's Aloha Tower Marketplace and downtown Honolulu campus before shuttling to the Shark Tank for games and practices.

To West, it certainly beats working overnight shifts at Amazon to put himself through Division III Dominican College in his home state of Illinois. While NCAA Division III schools are forbidden from giving athletic scholarships, he's on a basketball scholarship at HPU.

"It's definitely a unique experience," West said. "But I think it's a beautiful experience. You go to class, you got the waterfront right there. You get nice views. The weather is one of a kind. I couldn't complain. I know it's easy to look on social media and say, 'Oh, it's in a former strip mall, 5,000 students,' but it's a beautiful experience. And I think other HPU students will say the same."

Added Avi Halpert, a junior college transfer from California who contributed nine points, two assists and a steal in the win over Boise State: "It's awesome. I have no complaints out here. It's a privilege to be able to go to the beach almost every day, at least once a week, and just be right on the beach, be in Hawaii, get the education I'm getting, and be coached by great coaches that want to push you to get better. Really, no complaints out here. I love it."

The Sharks will host Nobel University of the National Christian College Athletic Association on Saturday at 7 p.m. for another exhibition before their regular season begins with a pair of games in Alaska on Nov. 15 and 16. Winning the PacWest Conference remains a goal of theirs, and all indications from a recent practice were that the Sharks have moved on from Monday. At the same time, there was no denying the magnitude of what they accomplished.

"It sets a tone just for ourselves, just that we know that we could compete with anyone, no matter what division they are, what they are ranked, whoever they have," Halpert said. "I think it just gives us confidence in ourselves, but we also have to remember that every time we go out on the court, we don't start up 10 points because we beat a Division I team. It's 0-0 every game. We still have to prove ourselves."

Led by Nakanishi, the Sharks are a team whose members, from top to bottom, have to earn everything. They wouldn't want it any other way.

"I think we we all wear a lot of hats at this level, on and off the court, and you need a lot of people in your corner to set you up for success, and that's indeed what we have here," said Nakanishi, who has also coached locally at Kamehameha and the University of Hawai‘i. "We have great administration, starting from the top level, with our president. We have a great athletic department with our athletic director leading the charge. We have a great coaching staff here, and we have great fans, and we have great supporters. All those elements are giving us a chance to pull off something incredible like that.

"Very humble crop of guys on our team, and they appreciate every little thing they have. We joked when we were shooting around at Boise State, comparing a little bit about what they have compared to what we have.

"But when we look back at it, we've got a beautiful campus over at Aloha Tower. We've got a gym that we absolutely love. We fill this thing up, and it's a fun environment to play in. We've had some incredible games here, and they get treated very well, and we work as hard as any team in the country, like everybody. We're in the weight room and we're in study hall. We're watching film, we're grinding on the court. So, we're proud of our efforts, and it's great to have something to show for it and a win early on."

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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.