Even the lure of paradise has its limit, University of Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace has learned.
For Wallace, the limit is two years.If he offers prospective players the Honolulu version of Fantasy Island for two years, they will come not in droves, not All-America talent, but they will come.
But if he offers Paradise for four years, the guest list oddly shrinks.
Wallace blames the problem on good, old mom.
"Mom just doesn't want her baby boy to go this far away for four years," said Wallace. "We tried going for the four-year kid, filling holes with JC kids. It just didn't work. Couldn't get enough four-year kids over here.
"So we go after the junior-college kid, the two-year kid. If we spent our time going after four-year kids, we would be right back where we were before struggling and losing."
The junior college route has worked just fine for Wallace, just as it has for Neil McCarthy at New Mexico State.
Wallace, who has eight transfers on this year's roster, has posted three consecutive winning seasons and taken his Rainbows to the NIT in 1989 and 1990.
Last season the Rainbows received no postseason invite, but the local fans were content with a 16-13 record and an upset over New Mexico in the WAC Tournament. Hawaii lost to eventual tourney champ, Brigham Young in overtime in the semifinals.
Wallace is content, but not fulfilled.
He wants to get better, but Paradise is not a perfect place to play basketball - the sun, the fun, the year-round average temperature of 83 degrees only goes so far.
"Sure, we sell all this," Wallace said of Honolulu's tropical appeal. The University of Hawaii is one mile north of Waikiki Beach.
"This is a big part of why you want to come here. This is a beautiful place to be."
But Wallace said there are two major reasons players balk at playing ball for Hawaii: the distance from home and limited TV coverage.
All WAC coaches moan and groan about the lack of national TV coverage given to their league. Hawaii, because of its five-hour time zone difference to the East, has the biggest disadvantage of all.
The Rainbows' games don't begin until after midnight on the East Coast, so TV appearances are rare. Scores of Hawaii's home games have no chance to make the morning papers in many of the basketball hotbeds.
"There is no question that TV coverage hurts us," said Wallace. "It seems like the Big 10 is on TV every day. Kids notice that. We get on once or twice a year. We tell them (recruits) we are on national TV, but we don't tell them how many times."