Aukai Wong, a 2005 Hilo graduate, built his reputation as one of the best shooters in BIIF basketball history, and that standing carried weight with Bobby Webster.
Wong, who last played college ball at UH-Hilo in 2011, recently returned home after a tryout with the Toronto Raptors for their NBA D-League team.
The 6-foot-3 guard had a private workout with the Raptors on Friday at the Air Canada Centre in Ontario.
The next day, Wong, 28, had an open tryout for the Raptors 905, the NBA Development League affiliate, with 130 other players at the University of Toronto.
On Sunday, Wong made the cut of the top 20 players, and was drafted first on his team for the tryout, which ran from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
From that pool of 20 players, five will secure a spot to Toronto’s D-League team. Wong expects to hear a call by Friday.
“I did well on Saturday, played solid defense, got a bunch of 50-50 balls,” he said. “Sunday went well too. It was a good opportunity. It’s funny that I’m a little older, but I’m active and stay in shape.”
Wong’s golden opportunity to be on a D-League team, one step from the NBA, was set up by Webster.
Who’s Bobby Webster?
He’s the Raptors vice president. But Honokaa fans remember him as the Iolani player who broke the Dragons’ heart in 2001.
Webster scored a last-second putback off a Derrick Low miss to lift Iolani over Honokaa 49-47 in the state semifinal, denying the Dragons their first championship appearance.
Wong and Low play in the Hawaii College Summer League on Oahu. Wong averaged 35 points per game last year, and 24 ppg this year.
A lot of other Raiders play in the league, too. Their phone calls to Webster in Toronto convinced him to give Wong a shot.
“I’ve been flying over every summer to play in the Manoa league for the past four or five years,” Wong said. “It’s the best league in Hawaii. Julian Sensley (former Rainbow Warrior) is there. The talent is way better.
“Bobby was there at the workout and some of the Toronto people were asking, ‘What’s he doing there?’ I had to play at a high level to make him not ruin his reputation. That was always on my mind, and I gave 100 percent every play.”
Wong is a P&R recreation tech at Papaaloa Gym. He’s grateful that he was allowed time off to shoot for the stars, Raptors and his dream.
He and his wife Katie have two boys, James 5, and Blake, 1, and while he was up in Toronto there was no time to play tourist.
“My wife asked, ‘Did you take photos or eat at a restaurant?’ I told her, ‘No.’ I played basketball, took an ice bath. It was strictly business.
“At the private workout, they wanted to see my range, and how I shoot off the dribble and my catch-and-release. I shot well in the workout and from the NBA 3-point line. The drills were nothing I haven’t seen before. I did learn different ways they warm up.”
After UHH, Wong had a chance to play pro ball overseas. But the offered deal was in Pakistan. He passed and kept playing ball.
Whatever direction his life takes, Wong looks at the Toronto tryout as a meaningful moment, not necessarily for himself, but for aspiring hoopsters.
He pointed to Kolten Wong, the biggest inspiration for Big Island homegrown products to reach the major leagues.
“Kolten Wong opened the door for baseball. I want to do it for basketball, even though I’m doing it later in life,” said Wong.
“I want teach the kids that there’s an open door to their future, and give them all hope. There’s no ceiling or roof. They can say, ‘Aukai tried out for the Toronto Raptors. Why can’t I?’ We’ve got to think bigger, even though we live on a small island, so far away.”