University of Hawai’i men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot has always been big on the history of the Warriors program, so when former longtime UH TV play-by-play announcer Jim Leahey passed away Monday morning after a long illness at age 80, it hit Ganot hard and the memories came flooding back.
Ganot first met Leahey when he arrived at the Manoa campus as a 24-year-old Director of Basketball Operations under head coach Riley Wallace.
“I know we’re all hurting and thinking and sending good thoughts and prayers to the amazing Leahey family,” Ganot said late Tuesday morning, moments before boarding the team bus to the airport for this week’s road trip to UC Davis and Cal Poly.