WAIKĪKĪ — Over 40 high school seniors and their loved ones gathered at the Sheraton Waikīkī Beach Resort at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning to sign their respective agreements with their future colleges.
Boys and girls from public and private schools across O‘ahu officially put pen to paper for sports such as softball, women's volleyball, baseball, soccer, golf and wrestling. College coaches consider Hawai‘i a fertile recruiting ground for all the above sports, routinely plucking Island talent to fill their rosters.
Historically, the same has not applied to men's basketball. Those who have kept track can count on one hand the number of players that signed a Division I men's basketball scholarship out of a Hawai‘i high school in the past decade — Kahuku's Samuta Avea signed with Hawai‘i in the fall of 2016, with Red Raider teammate Jessiya Villa signing with the Rainbow Warriors the following spring. Additionally, former ‘Iolani standout post Hugh Hogland signed with the University of Portland in April 2017. Then in the fall of 2017, Kahuku's Tolu Smith signed with Western Kentucky.
Though Hawai‘i did not lack for men's basketball talent, a pair of future Power 4 guards in JJ Mandaquit and Aaron Hunkin-Claytor both departed ‘Iolani and finished their respective high school hoops careers on the Mainland. Mandaquit is currently at the University of Arizona, while Hunkin-Claytor is at USC after spending his first two years at the University of Hawai‘i. Meanwhile, some of the state's best basketball players gravitate towards another sport for college, such as two-time Hawai‘i Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year Pupu Sepulona, who is now a defensive tackle on the Utah football team.
On Wednesday in Waikīkī, perched among the second row of athletes, a true historical anomaly sat among the crowd in Punahou senior Tanoa Scanlan. Scanlan, a 6-foot-6 wing, signed a scholarship agreement with the University of Montana. It was not lost on him in the moment how rare the accomplishment was.
"It means the world to me," Scanlan told Aloha State Daily. "It shows that the work and all the things that I've done, it's coming to fruition. To be in that group with [other Division I men's basketball signees from Hawai‘i], it means that me and my family are doing something right, and all I want to do is just continue to spread that and hopefully we get that number up in the future."
Tanoa Scanlan signed with the University of Montana on a basketball scholarship on Wednesday morning. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff) 
Tanoa Scanlan's parents accompanied him as he signed with the University of Montana on a basketball scholarship on Wednesday morning. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff)
High school coaches in Hawai‘i have raved about Scanlan's all-around ability and hoops IQ for years — he has ideal height for the sport, is a three-level scorer and has consistently shown a willingness to sacrifice buckets to pass to open teammates. Showings on the Mainland summer circuits attracted heavy interest from Division II schools, both locally and on the Mainland. Though Division I was the goal, Scanlan says he would have been fulfilled playing at the DII level.
"I wasn't DI or bust," he says. "Coming from Hawai‘i, to play Division I basketball ... to be fully honest, that's something really hard to do. So, my recruiting process was a little bit slow at first."
In July, Scanlan was the MVP at the Adidas 3Stripes Gold 17U National Championship in South Carolina, leading Hawai‘i's Team Kekela to a victory over Indiana's EG10 in the championship game with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Montana's coaches had been in contact with him over the summer and were able to take in the performance in person.
After getting invited to take an official visit to the school in September, Montana head coach Travis DeCuire pulled Scanlan and his parents into his office and offered him a scholarship. It was his first Division I offer, and Scanlan promptly committed. With the Grizzlies, the plan for Scanlan is to have his versatility used at multiple positions, whether it be at the wing or even at power forward.
"I knew it was the right decision. Just super grateful for the staff," Scanlan said. "It hit me for sure when we were with coach DeCuire in his office. All the hours and the years of work just flooded through my brain, and I don't want to say I cried, but I cried when I committed. When I received the offer, it was definitely a crazy feeling for sure.
"My mom was definitely crying, but it was awesome because that's been the goal, and for so long it seemed so far-fetched. To finally receive that scholarship, everything's paid for, so that was the goal for my family — to get free college so they don't have to worry about it, because my parents have invested so much money in me. To earn that full scholarship, it means the world."
With his college commitment official, Scanlan is hoping to go out a winner with Punahou under new head coach Aukai Wong. The Buffanblu have competed in the HHSAA championship game in each of Scanlan's previous three seasons of varsity basketball, going 1-2. Punahou's one win in that span was in 2025, though Scanlan missed the state tournament with a hand injury. In 2026, the Buffanblu lost on a last-second layup to Kahuku. In his senior season of high school basketball, Scanlan is also hoping to show young players they can still achieve their hoop dreams without leaving the state.
"There was definitely some moments where we were considering [relocating], just because of the goal we had in mind, but Punahou School means the world to me," Scanlan said. "I've been there since I was a kindergartner, and to be able to finish this year out here and graduate from Punahou, I'm just super grateful."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
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