Without completing one day of practice, Ji Xiang's first season with the Hawai'i men's basketball team is done.

Ji was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee yesterday. He will sit out the entire season to complete the rehabilitation process.

"He was a guy with a big body that we were hoping to play," UH head coach Bob Nash said. "It seemed like he was coming around. It seemed like his conditioning was a little better. We had an idea of playing him early on."

Ji, a 6-foot-10 forward from China, was injured during an intrasquad scrimmage at the Twilight 'Ohana event last Friday.

Nash initially described the injury as "a tweaked knee" over the weekend, and said he was surprised by the results of the MRI.

"It's a devastating loss for us, obviously, and certainly for Ji," Nash said.

Ji will still have four years of eligibility starting next season.

Ji's loss leaves the Rainbow Warriors with five low-post players: Bill Amis, Paul Campbell, P.J. Owsley, Alex Veit and Stephen Verwers.

"We got personnel we can move around," Nash said. "But we have to keep everybody as healthy as we can."

WAC HOOPS TOURNEYS NOT LIKELY IN HAWAI'I

The University of Hawai'i did not submit a bid to host the 2009 and 2010 Western Athletic Conference basketball tournaments, and will not bid on future basketball tournaments until it can receive financial assistance from sponsors.

Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier said the WAC basketball tournaments are costly because it involves all the men's and women's teams in the conference.

"For Hawai'i to put in a bid, it would have to be something that not just the University is involved with, but possibly the city and state," Frazier said. "For the basketball tournament, the first thing you have to do is guarantee transportation and hotels for a party of 25 for every men's and women's team in the conference.

"Just start with that and you can see what a big undertaking it would be. When you consider how much it would cost to bring all those teams to Hawai'i, it's an even bigger undertaking."

The 2009 and '10 WAC tournaments were recently awarded to the University of Nevada, in Reno, Nev.

The 2008 tournament will be hosted by New Mexico State at Las Cruces, N.M.

"I would hope that it can happen here in the future," Nash said. "But I'm not optimistic about it."

Other sports have held WAC tournaments in Hawai'i, but the basketball tournaments are considered the most costly.

In an effort to eliminate home-court advantage, the WAC is looking at neutral sites for future basketball tournaments.

Salt Lake City was the only neutral site to submit a bid for the 2009 and '10 tournaments.

"Right now, we have it on college campuses and that creates a great atmosphere, especially for the home team," Nash said. "But I think that it would benefit all teams to be on a neutral court."

Frazier said Sacramento and Anaheim could also serve as potential future host cities for the WAC tournaments.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.