A SEASON IN REVIEW
BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH has much momentum going into fall, after enjoying possibly its best-ever season in 2001-02.
A year of ‘yay!’s From the first volleyball serve in August to the final sailing regatta last week, the University of Hawaii enjoyed one of the most successful years in its sports-playing history.
Hawaii has perhaps its best sports
year ever, but many obstacles must be
overcome for the school to build on it2001-02 UH SEASON IN REVIEW
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
Maybe its best.
A national championship in men's volleyball, a 9-3 record (including a 72-45 blowout of Brigham Young) in football and a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in basketball were some of the highlights. Also, nearly every other team finished with a winning record.
Partly because of the state's dearth of pro sports, UH receives a huge share of local media coverage, so the athletic achievements of 2001-02 were well-documented.
But school administrators are most proud of something that was mentioned only in passing locally. It was an article in a national publication -- and it wasn't Sports Illustrated or ESPN The Magazine or some other sports periodical.
"The national ranking in the top 20 by U.S. News and World Report was a statement on how far we've come," athletics director Hugh Yoshida said of the magazine's rating of athletic programs, which are based as much on academics as won-lost records. "Our biggest investment is in student welfare. We've still got a long way to go, but the character of our kids and the support the student-athletes get has the academic side of the house sitting on a good foundation."
Unfortunately, the same can't be said right now for the department's bank account. Yoshida, who announced his retirement in February after nearly 10 years as AD, leaves with the program in the red.
"We're going to have a deficit (for the past year)," associate athletics director Jim Donovan said. "I don't know how much yet ... (high) six figures, possibly seven. Sept. 11 and down trends in markets cost us a loss of revenue.
"Our expenses are not out of control, they're around what we projected. But we took a real hit on our investment revenues."
The final numbers won't be out until next month. But the fiscal self-sufficiency of the football, men's and women's volleyball and men's basketball programs didn't provide enough gravy to carry the rest of the sports in rough times.
The coaches of three of those money-makers -- football's June Jones, men's volleyball's Mike Wilton and men's basketball's Riley Wallace -- spent much of the year trying to negotiate or re-negotiate their contracts.
Jones, via agent Leigh Steinberg, broke off restructuring talks in January, Wallace only recently came to agreement in principle, and Wilton could be on the verge of finally signing a deal after taking himself out of the running for the Brigham Young men's job last month.
Wilton said the UH athletic department is not the only institution wrestling with compensation issues for its top producers.
"That's probably a problem systemwide if not statewide," Wilton said. "That's a description of problems everywhere. But we have a new president (Evan Dobelle) who has made some statements and I don't think he's the type to make statements without action. There's a new era on the horizon in UH athletics. I think with new leadership there will be a whole new way of doing things."
That could mean anything. But this much is clear: The next athletics director will be thrust into the midst of high-profile personalities, including those of Jones, Wallace and Wilton (as well as Dobelle). Other coaches will also want a bigger slice of the pie -- not just to fatten their own accounts, but to improve the products they put on the field and courts.
The only solution, of course, is to make the pie bigger.
UH has begun to gradually increase football season-ticket prices through seat licenses -- a concept which is already an accepted practice throughout the rest of college football.
Scholarship and salary endowments are also becoming part of the UH sports landscape, and can help ease the overall financial burden. Attempts are also being made to streamline the various sports' booster clubs.
Also, Jones and others are looking west to the east -- he wants to play a game in Japan, and open recruiting and fan bases in Asia. It will be a worthwhile venture if he has the success Wallace, Wilton, women's basketball coach Vince Goo and volleyball coach Dave Shoji have had in recruiting Europeans.
Perhaps the two biggest areas of concern -- and opportunity -- are television and conference affiliation.
UH is negotiating with KFVE-KHNL for a new contract for TV rights. A sticking point is ESPN's expanding role; when the national network grabs a game (and it often does so on short notice), "The Home Team" is left with air -- dead air -- and nothing to sell.
Of course, the exposure is good for UH, especially when it wins in an exciting fashion, as the football team did when it stunned ranked Fresno State 38-34 on a Friday night in November.
While Yoshida and Jones initially balked at some of ESPN's demands, like playing on Friday, they've discovered the marriage to be a good one. It's safe to say the new Hawaii Bowl, which will be played on Christmas Day starting this year, would have been a much tougher sell without the network's help.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Hawaii will remain in the Western Athletic Conference. While the party line is that the WAC is good for UH, the reality is that right now there's nowhere else to go.
The Mountain West isn't inviting new members, and the Pac-10 remains a pipe dream for now.
Going independent, at least in football, should be explored further. But self-determination and not having to share profits with a conference are outweighed by a nearly impossible schedule-making situation.
Then there's Aloha Stadium
The ongoing Fieldturf saga highlights just one of several problems at the Halawa facility.
When the Warriors play football there, they pay the state $800,000 rent per game. No one -- including Gov. Ben Cayetano -- quite understands why a state-run entity pays for the use of a state facility. His solution is the one UH favors: handing over control of that stadium to the university. But is UH any better equipped to do the job?
The most ominous consideration is that Aloha Stadium doesn't have that many good years left anyway. Within the next decade or so, UH and the state will need a new venue.
Dobelle has proposed a large one (80,000 seats) in West Oahu or a small one (30,000) on campus. One of the first tasks of the new athletics director will be to huddle with Dobelle, Jones and others to get a better grasp on what is needed -- not to mention how it will be paid for.
UH is by far the biggest sports game in town, and its athletic department will always be a target for criticism. But after the year the Rainbows, Wahine and Warriors had, it's hard to find fault with the end product.
At least one athlete believes the pencil-pushers and high-level decision-makers deserve the credit for setting it all in motion.
"It starts at the top with the athletic administration," UH quarterback Nick Rolovich said. "The coaches had the players focused and the desire was there. I think the teams fed off each other. We sort of helped set the stage and it got better and better as the year went along."
Still, questions abound. These are just a few:
Can UH build on its on-field and in-classroom successes of the past year? Will Mike Trapasso turn the baseball team around on the field and the bank ledger?
Will there be enough money to pay coaches and build a stadium in the future? Are there enough fans to fill a stadium? Will the new AD hide the company letterhead from Jones?
As Wilton said, "Each year is a journey."
And that journey begins this weekend in Dallas, where finalists to replace Yoshida are being interviewed.
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2001-02 UH SEASON IN REVIEW
2001
Sept. 8: The football team beats Montana 30-12 in its season opener on Maui. It is UH's first football game ever played on a neighbor island and the first game since coach June Jones' nearly fatal car accident Feb. 22, 2001.Aug. 24:
Nebraska sweeps the women's volleyball team in its season-opener at Stockton, Calif., 30-17, 30-27, 30-24.
Sept. 11: The soccer team is stranded on the West Coast due to the terrorist attacks. The football game at Nevada is postponed and two volleyball matches are canceled.
Oct. 6: With Nick Rolovich at QB, the football team beats SMU 38-31 in overtime on the road. The Warriors go on to win eight of their last nine games.
Oct. 26: The football team stuns No. 18 Fresno 38-34 on national TV.
Nov. 10: The soccer team falls to SMU 2-0 in the WAC championship game and finishes 10-10.
Nov. 17: Justin Ayat's 24-yard field goal as time runs out gives the football team a 52-51 victory over Miami (Ohio) at Aloha Stadium.
Dec. 6: UCLA beats the volleyball team in four games to end the Wahine season in the NCAA tournament's round of 16 at Long Beach, Calif. Hawaii finishes 29-5.
Dec. 8: The football team ends its season by beating nationally ranked and previously undefeated BYU 72-45 at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors finish 9-3, but without a bowl game invitation.
Dec. 11: Wide receiver Ashley Lelie is named third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
Dec. 22: Haim Shimonovich is named tournament MVP as the basketball team beats Georgia 54-44 in the Rainbow Classic championship game.
2002
Jan 12: The cheerleaders place third in the national championships in Orlando, Fla.Jan. 30: The baseball team wins its debut under coach Mike Trapasso, beating Florida State 3-2.
Feb. 2: Nick Rolovich wins two outstanding player awards at the Hula Bowl on Maui.
Feb. 17: Brian Bock's 10th-inning grand slam gives the baseball team an 8-7 victory over UCLA, completing a three-game sweep.
Feb. 22: Athletics director Hugh Yoshida announces he will retire by the end of the calendar year.
March 9: For the second year in a row, the basketball team beats host Tulsa 73-59 for the WAC tournament championship. The women's team falls in its WAC title game to Louisiana Tech 53-50.
March 14: The Wahine basketball team loses 62-50 at Oregon State in the first round of the WNIT. Hawaii finishes 23-8.
March 15: Xavier erases a 12-point deficit and beats the basketball team 70-58 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Dallas. UH finishes 27-6 and ranked 25th.
March 17: Hawaii-Hilo takes a doubleheader from the UH baseball team, completing a four-game sweep.
April 20: Ashley Lelie becomes the highest NFL draft choice in UH history, as the Denver Broncos take him with the 19th pick.
May 4: The men's volleyball team wins the national title by beating Pepperdine 29-31, 31-29, 30-21, 30-24.
May 19: Cheryl Smith captures the 10,000-meter run at the WAC Championships in Houston with a time of 36 minutes and 25.92 seconds.
May 26: Fresno State beats the baseball team 6-5, ending Hawaii's season by handing UH its eighth consecutive loss. The Rainbows finish 16-40, the program's worst-ever record.
June 7: UH completes its athletic year as the sailing team finishes third in the nation in coed dinghy.
UH Athletics