TULSA, Okla. >> As he sits in a seat across from the Hawaii basketball bench, Hugh Yoshida is looking relaxed and comfortable. Earlier in the day, the Hawaii athletic director saw the Rainbow Wahine push Louisiana Tech in the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament and got better results later when the Rainbows won their second straight WAC title last night at the Reynolds Center over Tulsa 73-59. Yoshida reflects on what got
him to his last WAC tourneyBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comIt's a bittersweet moment for Yoshida. He's the only A.D. with both his men's and women's teams playing in their respective title games and automatic NCAA Tournament berths.
He's also the only one who won't be here next year in his current capacity. Yoshida announced last month that he will be retiring in December after nearly nine years on the job.
"I'll leave here with mixed emotions," Yoshida said yesterday. "When you come to one of these tournaments, you see a lot of friends and colleagues.
"Of all the basketball tournament memories, I'd have to say last year here was probably the best. The men came in here a .500 team, turned it around and made that run to win it. It was a very positive thing because there had been questions raised about recruiting foreign kids. The foreign kids have come forth, athletically and academically, and helped us get on the map."
His first WAC tournament appearance as the official -- not interim -- athletic director was in Salt Lake City in 1994. The Rainbows, seeded fourth, knocked off No. 5 Colorado State, No. 1 New Mexico and No. 3 BYU to give coach Riley Wallace his first NCAA Tournament appearance.
A few days later, Yoshida roamed the domed arena at Weber State, where Hawaii eventually lost to Syracuse in the first round. The WSU arena resembled what was being built down in the quarry; six months later, Yoshida presided over the opening ceremonies of the Special Events Arena (now the Stan Sheriff Center).
"That first tournament in the Delta Center was a real eye-opener, seeing all the politics going on," said Yoshida. "But that was a great year for us, going to the NCAAs and seeing the Sheriff Center built.
"You have to give a lot of credit to (then UH president) Al Simone and to Stan (Sheriff) who pushed the issue to go from 4,000 seats to 10,000. That size is a good fit for our university."
As he watched the Wahine begin to pull away from Rice in the semifinals Friday, Yoshida reflected on what he hopes will become his legacy. UH's 16th athletic director said he was an educator-turned-business man because the job description has changed so much in the last decade.
"What I hope I emphasized over the years were the student-athlete issues," he said. "We improved the academic center and health care for all the student-athletes. We've come a long way in the past few years and I feel like we're treating every student-athlete the same way.
"The biggest charge for me was to see that as many kids graduate after they finished their four years of eligibility. At the same time, we're looking at the community being involved with our programs. We know we can't depend on just gate receipts and internal support."
Yoshida said he's feels very proud of the programs that are currently in place to help the student-athletes. He also realizes that some of the groundwork he has laid won't come to fruition until several years from now.
"We have some projects on the burners now that will take a year or two to get into place," said Yoshida. "Some of the programs are to generate income but others are for benefits for those who join (the booster clubs)."
Yoshida, known more as a football coach, was also a basketball coach early in his career. He praised the job Vince Goo has done with the Wahine ("I don't understand why there's not a better fan following.") and he's enjoyed this season with Riley Wallace's Rainbows.
While the 1994 Rainbows are special, Yoshida's favorite players are Anthony Carter and Alika Smith (1996-98).
"Those two stand out if you talk about favorite team players," said Yoshida. "They were a tremendous tandem, so unselfish. Some players won't buy into the team concept. Those two were a focal point for the university as to how our basketball should be played.
"This year's ballclub is like that, very unselfish. When you talk about one team that will stand out during my time here, this is the one that will always be with me. This is the team that will be the first to win an NCAA Tournament game."
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