If the University of Hawai'i football team wanted to open the season with the reigning national champion, Louisiana State, in Aloha Stadium on less than a year's notice it would take divine intervention — and a multi-page contract with at least a $250,000 penalty clause.

For the Rainbow Warriors basketball team to get Kansas into the Stan Sheriff Center months after winning the national title ... well, it wouldn't happen.

But Penn State, the NCAA women's volleyball champion, in Manoa?

UH coach Dave Shoji got the Aug. 29 season opener with the No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions done with what basically amounted to a handshake deal. And, maybe, an aloha shirt.

Women's volleyball, even at UH where it makes money and hangs championship banners, still exists in a vastly different universe than football or men's basketball, which can be refreshing as the UH-Penn State opener underlines.

When Texas canceled out early this year on UH to grab a spot in the Aug. 29 to 31 AVCA Showcase tournament with Stanford and Southern California, Shoji was left to scramble for a marquee opponent to fill the opening date.

A daunting task to be sure and one that would be next to impossible in several major sports involving months of negotiations. But in volleyball there still exists the last vestiges of a handshake honor system among veteran coaches. For a lot of the oldtimers who built programs, a coach's word is bond. Contracts, if they exist, are mostly to mollify the accountants and lawyers.

Perhaps a quarter century ago, when Sheriff was the UH athletic director, it was this way in football and other sports, too. But no longer, as the insistence on hefty penalty clauses is a reminder.

Shoji, in his 34th season at UH, and Russ Rose, in his 30th year at Penn State, are among the 20 to 25 coaches in women's volleyball who still operate on a promise, according to Shoji's estimates. "With (Shoji) all you need is his word," Rose said. Said Shoji: "A handshake (with Rose) is enough for me."

In a matter of days, they struck a deal for the equivalent of far less than just what UH will pay the Weber State football team for its meals.

"Our teams like the challenge, the crowd and the atmosphere (at UH)," said Rose, who like the 12th-ranked Rainbow Wahine, relishes an early test against good competition.

Then, there is also the matter of aloha shirts. "I like Reyn's and, I know you can get them online, but I like coming out there to get mine," Rose said.

In what other sport would you find a coach who schedules with aloha shirts in mind?

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