Griess leaves Chaminade
for Division III Augsburg,
Minn.

Chaminade athletic director and basketball coach Aaron Griess is leaving the school to become head basketball coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

"Chaminade has been terrific; I owe a lot to Chaminade," Griess said. "My family absolutely loves Hawaii and leaving this place will be the hardest part."

Griess, who begins his new job June 1, said part of the reason for the move to Augsburg is that it provides more time for coaching basketball. He will have some teaching duties at Augsburg, but will be able to devote more time to coaching.

"(Augsburg) has great facilities and a lot of support for the basketball program," Griess said. "Everything is set up to stay competitive."

Local coaches say he was more than competitive in the Pacific West Conference.

"I think he has done a tremendous job there at Chaminade," Brigham Young-Hawaii coach Ken Wagner said. "He has had a little bit of bad luck with injuries, but last year he built a team that could beat anyone in the conference. He has been tremendous in every aspect of the job."

Griess went 71-61 in five seasons as head coach of the Silverswords after serving as an assistant under Al Walker for four seasons beginning in 1996. Chaminade, an NCAA II team, went 16-11 last season with a win over Division I Coastal Carolina.

In 2003, Griess led the 'Swords to an upset of Division I Villanova.

Augsburg competes at the Division III level, and Griess is replacing Brian Ammann, who was the Auggies' head coach for 17 seasons before resigning in January. Augsburg went 9-16 last season.

No replacement has been named for the two vacant positions left by Griess, who is originally from Lincoln, Neb.

But the outgoing coach believes the new head man will step into a pretty good situation.

"They'll be fine," Griess said. "They are bringing back two of the top guards (Chris Reaves and Zack Whiting) in the PacWest."