John Wilder is used to making big jumps, so his jump from a Texas junior college to the University of Hawai'i basketball team should not be that difficult.

Wilder is one of six new recruits for the Rainbow Warriors this season. The entire team will be introduced tonight at Twilight 'Ohana.

Tonight is the start of practices for all NCAA basketball teams. The Hawai'i men's and women's teams will participate in various activities tonight, capped by intrasquad scrimmages for both teams.

"I'm excited, but I'm also a little nervous about it," Wilder said. "I never played before a big crowd before — this might be the biggest."

Wilder, a 6-foot-2 junior, is one of the candidates hoping to become the starting point guard for Hawai'i this season.

Coach Riley Wallace said the lack of a consistent point guard last season was one of the team's weaknesses.

"The stability of the position wasn't there," Wallace said. "We brought in a bunch of guys for this year, and I like what I see already."

Wilder and freshmen Hiram Thompson and Dominic Waters were recruited to compete for the position. Senior Deonte Tatum, who was a part-time starter last season, is also in the mix.

"We can do different things by having all those guys available," Wallace said. "We can put two of them on the floor at the same time. We might even try Deonte at (small forward) if we want to go with a quicker lineup."

Wilder appears to be the preseason leader to take over the point because of his size and versatility. Last season at Weatherford College (Texas), he averaged 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists while playing both point guard and shooting guard.

Hawai'i associate coach Jackson Wheeler said he offered Wilder a scholarship immediately after watching Weatherford in a playoff game last season.

"He had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, and his team won," Wheeler said. "Everybody I talked to said John had a tendency to step up in big games, and he definitely did in that game. I knew right away we had to get him."

It also helped that former Hawai'i players Nerijus Puida, Mindaugas Burneika and Vaidotas Peciukas were recruited by Wheeler out of Weatherford.

"That's a program that's been good to us, and we feel like we got another good one in John," Wheeler said.

Wilder was also regarded as a defensive stopper during his two seasons at Weatherford.

"A lot of times I had to guard the other team's best player," he said. "That's a challenge that I like. I don't care if I don't score, but I don't want my man to score on me. I think my quickness helps me the most on defense, but I'm also 200 pounds — I'm not a little guy — so I use that as well."

Wallace said: "He can defend quicker guards, which is something we need in this league. He has a lot of physical ability, but he's a team player, that's what I like."

One of Wilder's physical abilities is jumping. He has a vertical leap of around 38 inches, and said he will put it on display tonight during the slam-dunk contest.

"I never lost a dunk contest yet," he said. "I don't know what some of the other guys will bring, but I'll be ready."

As a high school senior at Central Park Christian School in Alabama, Wilder won the state long-jump championship. His personal best was 24 feet.

Making it more impressive, Wilder almost never practiced the long jump because it conflicted with basketball season.

"I just used to show up for the meets," said Wilder, who was also a sprinter on his high school track team. "Basketball always came first."

Wilder was a shooting guard in high school, and he averaged 19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game as a senior.

"I was always a (shooting) guard growing up," he said. "But I'm comfortable at the point. I think that'll make it tougher for other teams to guard us because I feel like I can pass it to any of my teammates or score myself if I have to."

Wilder said he also likes to play a "physical" game, in part because he grew up in Mobile, Ala.

"It's a football state," he said. "I played until my ninth grade year. It was good because football makes you tough."

As Wallace put it: "We were looking at a bunch of point guards, but we took (Wilder) over a couple other guys because of his size and athletic ability and leadership. We think he can help us right away."

The six recruits who will be introduced tonight are Wilder, Thompson, Waters, forward Ahmet Gueye, shooting guard Matt Lojeski, and center Stephen Verwers.

Verwers is a transfer from Colorado State. He will participate in tonight's scrimmage, but will not be eligible to play in games this season because of NCAA transfer rules.

Returnees from last season's 16-13 team are guards Tatum, "Little Matt" Gibson, and Bobby Nash, forwards Julian Sensley and "Big Matt" Gipson, and centers Milos Zivanovic and Chris Botez.

Walk-on players Jack Miller and Tremaine Ellison also will participate tonight.

All of the players — men and women — will appear in costumes during their introductions.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.