A story that seemed impossible turned out to be a great success. University of Hawaii’s Junior Madut, is the Big West Conference Player-of-the Week in men’s basketball.
Junior Madut, a junior, who is 6’6″, led the Rainbow Warriors to wins over Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara. This vaulting the Rainbow Warriors into first place in Big West. The Warriors have won seven consecutive games.
Madut was born and raised in South Sudan. He moved to Australia with his family when he was six years old. Madut attended DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Fla. before enrolling at Eastern Florida State College. Madut was a big draw for the Rainbow Warrior coaches during the 2019 NJCAA Tournament, in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Madut didn’t enroll at UH until January 2020 because of delays in processing his transfer. That semester, he redshirted. In 2020-21, the Warriors had a league-only regular season.
Madut role of point guard came after Juan Munoz suffered a season-ending injury to his knee. Junior Madut can also play on the wing and guard. The Rainbow Warriors system often uses two point guards. This gives Madut freedom to play off ball screens, or shoot from behind the 3-point arc.
Madut is also a persistent defender, who stopped UCSB from attempting to tie the game with a 3 pointer on Saturday. Madut also protected the lane by fouling a USCB Gaucho who attempted to dunk.
