Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones bet big on himself two years ago when he decided to enter the ranks of Division I basketball. The former Hawaii Hilo standout saw it pay off and then some on Tuesday.
Tait-Jones, a New Zealander with a professed affinity for the islands, was named the Big West Player of the Year after leading UC San Diego to a Big West regular-season championship in the first year that the Tritons are a full-fledged Division I program.
"All glory to god," Tait-Jones wrote on his Instagram story.
The 6-foot-6 swingman's remarkable rise from three-time first-team PacWest selection to the top individual honor in the BWC mirrored UCSD’s successful jump to D-I after a four-year transition process in which it was not eligible for the postseason.
Now UCSD (28-4, 18-2 BWC), winner of 13 in a row, is the top seed in this week’s Big West championships and needs only two wins to make its first trip to March Madness.
Tait-Jones, a reluctant 3-point shooter but a true slasher, was a magnet for contact all season as he attempted 274 foul shots, or over 8.5 per game, and made 210 of them. He shot 58% from the field.
His scoring average surged from 13.8 points per game in his first Division I season to 19.7.
UCSD took five of the Big West’s seven flagship awards as voted by the league's 11 head coaches, including Coach of the Year for Eric Olen, point guard Hayden Gray as Defensive Player of the Year, Chris Howell as Best Hustle Player, and Justin Rochelin as Best Sixth Player.
Hawaii, meanwhile, came up on the light end of the Big West awards — to be expected as one of the three Big West programs not in Henderson, Nev., this week.
Center Tanner Christensen, who transferred in from Utah Tech for his last season of college hoops, was UH’s lone representative as an honorable mention.
The 6-foot-10 Christensen was a load to handle in solo coverage for opponents, especially early in the year before opponents brought regular double teams. The Spokane Valley, Wash., native finished with averages of 10.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 59.9% from the field. He was second on the team in scoring average and total points behind Gytis Nemeiksa (12.3 ppg).
It marked the first time since 2020-21, and third time in UH’s 13-year tenure in the Big West that it did not place a player on an all-conference first or second team.
UH (15-16, 7-13 BWC) slipped to ninth place on the last day of the regular season, the first time since 2010 that the program failed to qualify for a conference tournament.
The Rainbow Warriors now prepare for their final year in the Big West before they leave for the Mountain West in the summer of 2026.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
