Summer Tourneys In Las Vegas Good For Basketball Careers

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Pualei Furtado. Photo courtesy Utah State University Athletic Media Relations.

Chico Furtado takes his Hawaii Select All-Star teams to National Basketball Tournaments in Las Vegas each July because it ensures that they will face solid competition and also expose the girls to college recruiters.

Furtado’s niece Pualei Furtado proves that the formula works. She had planned to walk on at UH last fall, with an academic scholarship set to cover her expenses. But she decided to join her uncle and Hawaii Select for yet another summer season in 2009, her seventh with the team. Under NCAA rules, players who haven’t signed a letter-of-intent with a college can still play in the 17-and-under division, even though she completed her prep eligibility.

In Pualei case, new doors of opportunity were suddenly ajar when Utah State’s staff came to watch teammate Kamie Imai, who was being recruited by the Utes. An impressive showing at the tournament by Furtado, a Kaneohe resident and former Kamehameha standout, suddenly placed her on the Utes’ radar, and she was offered a chance to walk on to the team for 2009-10 with the possibility of a scholarship for 2010-11 when money would be available. For its part, Hawaii couldn’t guarantee Furtado a spot on their roster, having had an undue amount of guards in the fold at the time, so she shifted gears and went to Utah State.

Nearly a year later, she can take comfort in her decision to walk on at USU, having recently earned a full-tuition scholarship. As she prepares for her sophomore season, Pualei took some time away from summer workouts to talk to MidWeek‘s Windward Islander.

What’s your earliest sports-related memory? My dad (Dave) and my uncle Chico used to coach at Kalaheo, so I used to go to every practice and every game from when I was about 3. I would play with the ball at every practice and talk to all the girls. They would play with me and pick me up and put me over their shoulders.

What’s the best part of being a student-athlete at Utah State? There are a lot of things, but I’d say the relationships you build. You are together on a college team so much - more than with your high school team - and the relationships you build with your teammates are amazing.

What areas of your game are you focusing on during the summer? I’m working on getting a little stronger, and I shoot all the time. I’m working on my shooting and my ball-handling.

What’s been the hardest course you have taken in college to date and why? I definitely know this one! I’d say Economics 1500 - mostly because the class was at 7:30 a.m. in the spring, and I have weight training at 6 (a.m.), so I was always tired.

Who’s had the biggest impact on you in your life? I’d say my mom (Tanya). She influences me in all areas of my life - spiritually, academically and athletically.

What Internet site do you frequent the most? I’d have to say Facebook or any type of shopping site. I love to shop. If I can’t go to the mall, I love to shop online. I used to be into shoes. Now, it’s clothing and swimsuits.

What is your least favorite household chore? There are a lot of those. It would probably have to be cleaning the toilet.

What movie could you watch over and over? Mean Girls. It’s a funny/lame comedy - a teeny-bopper movie.

Hawaii aside, what’s your favorite road destination in the Western Athletic Conference? The coolest one for me, location-wise, was Louisiana (home of LA Tech) because it was the furthest I’ve been (away from home). It was also cool to see the Idaho campus, where some of my former teammates are playing.

What’s in your iPod? I don’t have a specific genre that I listen to - I have a wide variety of music. When I’m on the Mainland, I like to listen to Hawaiian music and Jawaiian and reggae.

Text messaging has become the mode of communication among college kids. How many text messages do you send/receive a day? It really depends. When I’m in Utah, I get a lot from my friends in Hawaii. When I’m home, I get a lot from my friends in Utah, but I’m not really a textaholic. I don’t get that many. Texting takes long. I’d rather just talk to people.

If you could have your pick, what celebrity would you choose as your date for Saturday night? That’s a tough one. I have a three-way tie between Tom Welling, Channing Tatum and Paul Walker.

You’re stuck on the island of Kahoolawe. You can have an endless supply of one food. What would it be? I’d have to say pork lau lau.