Hawaii basketball got a rare family moment at Bankoh Arena, where Tanner Cuff assisted his brother Tiger Cuff on a 3-point shot during a UH exhibition. It was the kind of play that made the reunion feel complete, especially after years in which the brothers moved on separate basketball paths.
For Tanner Cuff, the moment came after a winding journey to UH. He transferred to the University of Hawaii in June 2025 after Evansville, having already taken a two-year mission in Kentucky in the past. Tiger Cuff, meanwhile, had been headed in another direction entirely, with a planned move to Weber State in June 2026 after a two-year mission to Brazil.
A brotherly path that took years to meet in Honolulu
The Cuff brothers were raised to play basketball in Utah, and they come from a family with deep coaching roots. Ryan Cuff said of the reunion: “That was fun to hear.”
Tanner and Tiger Cuff did not cross paths in high school or club basketball, which made their shared UH moment even more unusual. Tanner once said, “As soon as I was out of the womb, my dad probably had a basketball in my hands,” adding that “As soon as I could start walking, there was a little basketball hoop.” Tiger described the same kind of upbringing, saying, “Ever since I could walk, I’d have a ball in my hand.”
Why the reunion meant more than one exhibition play
There was also a personal layer to Tiger’s route back toward basketball. He said, “I thought that would be tough,” before explaining that he chose his mission so he would have “five (consecutive) years to play.”
That timeline made the exhibition even more notable. A week ahead of the 2025-26 opener, Tanner Cuff suffered a torn ACL, a setback that added another twist to a story that had already been shaped by distance, family ties and disrupted plans. For UH, the on-court connection between the brothers was a small snapshot of what had been years in the making.
The larger picture is simple: Hawaii basketball has brought the Cuffs into the same program at last, even if their routes there were anything but straightforward. And for one exhibition play at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, the brothers finally got to share the same basketball moment in Honolulu.
