HPU BASKETBALL
HPU picks O’Brien to build women’s basketball program
UH's former director of basketball operations starts from scratch
Hawaii Pacific took another step toward putting a women's basketball team on the floor next year by hiring Elizabeth O'Brien as head coach.
Women's basketball and men's and women's soccer become official sports in the six-team Pacific West Conference this fall.
O'Brien had 10 years of coaching experience at four different colleges when she moved to Hawaii last fall.
This year she was the director of basketball operations for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine and coach Jim Bolla. She was in charge of practice and tournament management, community relations and various administrative duties.
This is her first head coaching job.
"I am absolutely thrilled to become a head coach. I have mixed emotions about leaving Coach Bolla because I learned so much this year," O'Brien said. "I talked with him and he said this is why he has assistant coaches, that his job is to get them ready to be head coaches. After he told me that, it put me at ease."
Hawaii Pacific had a women's basketball team for about four years in the early 1980s. O'Brien will be starting the Sea Warriors from scratch.
"We need everything from socks and sneakers to a facility and players. But I'm used to challenges and I'm up for it," O'Brien said.
Recruiting will be a priority, and the first step will be to check the local talent at the upcoming state tournaments and see what unsigned seniors are out there.
"I want a mix of walk-ons, a couple of junior college players and transfers. I don't want everyone to be in the freshman class," said O'Brien, whose budget actually starts in July.
"I'm going home (New York) for my wedding in June and I'm sure that will turn into a recruiting trip. I'll also use the telephone and Internet to narrow things down.
"The good news is all the local schools are starting on even ground and I think we can be competitive there. Notre Dame de Namur and Grand Canyon (the other PWC schools) are established and that's a different story."
O'Brien graduated from Hofstra with a marketing degree after playing four seasons with the Pride. She began her coaching career with Dowling (N.Y.) College as an assistant in the 1997-98 season. The next two years she was an assistant at South Carolina-Aiken.
O'Brien returned to her alma mater in 2000 for two years, moved to Army for a year, then back to Hofstra for a year before spending a second stint at Army in the 2004-05 season.
Her diploma reads 2000, although she went through graduation ceremonies in 1997.
"No one in the marketing department was aware the requirements had changed. I moved away but never got my diploma. I finally called and they said I was one or two credits short. I had to take another course even though I was in grad school," O'Brien said.
She continued grad school this year and is working on her masters in educational psychology.