Patience, they told Ahmet Gueye.

Patience — doctors, trainers and coaches counseled — for eight months is what it would take for the University of Hawai'i basketball team's big man to make it back game-ready from March surgery that repaired two knee ligaments damaged in the third-to-the-last game of last season.

When he had to be patient no longer, Gueye threaded an assist on Matt Lojeski's basket 2 seconds into the Rainbow Warriors' season home opener last night. Fifteen seconds later, Gueye pulled in a rebound. Sixteen seconds after that Gueye had a layup. And eight seconds after that came a signature block of Brian Chestnut's ill-advised shot.

Forty-one seconds into the game, before all the 3,737 on hand had found their seats, chants of "Gheeeee... gheeeee..." rained again in the Stan Sheriff Center, a sure sign that all was well not only with Gueye's surgically repaired right knee but with a big question mark for the 'Bows on their way to a 79-67 win over Coppin State.

"When I heard the crowd saying my name again, I knew everything was going to be all right," Gueye said.

Gueye's injury against New Mexico State was the final nail in a disappointing, injury-plagued season for the 'Bows. How their 6-foot-8, 235-pound co-captain's braced knee goes will say a lot about how far they go this year. And last night, except for some expected post-game swelling, the going was good in a 19-point, 10-rebound, 3-block night as Gueye's baseline-to-baseline smile underlined when he left the game with 4 minutes, 23 seconds to considerable applause.

Oh, there is an epidemic of turnovers (39 in two games) to be concerned about. There are problems getting the right people in the right places at the right times and waiting for Bobby Nash and Matt Gibson to find their shooting touches. And there is the matter of being able to close out an opponent. All necessities. All urgent with Oregon State coming in Sunday. But a hovering question was the early health and viability of Gueye, who would be operating at 80- to 85-percent, according to estimates.

But, then, Gueye was told his type on injury often takes 9 to 10 months to rebound. "They told me it could be a while," Gueye said. "But the doctors, the trainers at UH, they worked with me really hard to help me get back faster, if I could."

The hard part for this patient, Gueye said, was practicing patience.

Not until his 24th birthday, on Sept. 24, was he allowed to pick up a basketball in drills. So, when he hit the floor last week in Las Vegas, Gueye said he was ready. When he hit the court last night he wanted to prove it to everybody else.

"When I heard my name announced for the starting lineup, I got that feeling again. I forgot about my injury and just thought about playing basketball again. When I heard the crowd, I knew they didn't forget about me."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.