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USC basketball: Former Trojan assistant Gib Arnold named Hawaii head coach

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Former USC assistant men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold has been hired as head coach at the University of Hawaii. The announcement was made Saturday.

Arnold spent five years at USC before he was let go on March 7, the day after USC’s season ended, by first-year USC Coach Kevin O’Neill, who said he wanted ‘to move in a different direction.’

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Arnold agreed to a three-year contract that will pay him about $240,000 a year, which is close to the amount his predecessor, Bob Nash, was making before he was fired on March 8.

Known primarily as a recruiter, Arnold told the Advertiser that there are a couple players he was recruiting to USC ‘that I’ll try to talk to.’

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The report also stated that Hawaii officials contacted the NCAA to see what involvement Arnold had in the nearly four-year investigation into USC’s athletic program stemming from allegations that former star O.J. Mayo had received improper benefits.

‘We made several calls,’ Hawaii Athletic Director Jim Donovan reportedly said. ‘The NCAA is allowing me to say that he was not involved in the investigation.’

The 41-year-old Arnold becomes the 19th coach at Hawaii. His father, Frank Arnold, was the head basketball coach at the program for two years (1985-87). Arnold attended Punahou School, where he was a high school All-American and was selected Gatorade’s state player of the year.
-- Baxter Holmes

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