FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Wahine coach Dave Shoji was named one of the All-Time Greatest Coaches by USA Volleyball this summer.
The father of HE doesn't need the award to prove his success. Four national championships, more than 700 career victories and a program that is competitive year in and year out speak for themselves.
Wahine Volleyball
Dave Shoji has watched the UH
program grow from nothingBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBut just in case his hardware shelf wasn't heavy enough, Hawaii coach Dave Shoji was named one of the All-Time Greatest Coaches by USA Volleyball earlier this summer. Shoji will be honored tonight by Kent Ma, a representative from USA Volleyball, before Hawaii's season-opener against Ohio State.
"I never thought I would be considered one of the best coaches," said Shoji, beginning his 28th season. "I didn't think I'd be in it this long. I didn't envision getting any kind of award like this.
"It's just a tribute to the women who have played in the program. They made it what it is today. I didn't have anything to do with that. The reason it happened was the players and then the community got involved and that's why it's such a big deal now. I was just fortunate to be part of it."
To say that Shoji has come a long way in the sport would be an understatement. When his parents were shipped overseas by his father's company, Shoji was sent to live with an aunt in California.
He was a three-sport standout athlete (baseball, basketball and football) at Upland (Calif.) High School, where his (then) claim to fame was winning the school's "Best Athlete" award over future Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers.
Shoji first played volleyball at UC Santa Barbara after his college roommate introduced him to the sport.
"We would just fool around in the apartment complex where we lived," Shoji said. "I think that's where I first got introduced to the game. From there it was just taking a P.E. class, playing intramurals, playing on the beach. By my third year of college, I had got talked into trying out for the team."
Shoji was a quick study and by his senior year, he had earned first-team All-American honors.
He served two years in the Army after graduation, but didn't go to Vietnam because he was on the All-Army volleyball team. Shoji, whose father Kobe was a member of the famed "Go For Broke" 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II, had been prepared to go. But playing with the volleyball team cut into his service time; officers with less than a year of service remaining could not be sent to Vietnam.
Shoji came back home to Hawaii and coached several teams in a variety of sports while earning a master's degree at UH. Coaching the Wahine was one of three coaching jobs that he held at the same time.
THE PAY wasn't great. He received a stipend between $500 and $1,000. And back then, coaches did everything from setting up the gym to putting out the chairs.
"It was not a high-profile program at the time. There were two previous coaches (Alan Kang and Chris McLachlin)," said Shoji, who took over the program in 1975, its second season of intercollegiate play. "It was difficult to find someone who wanted to make that kind of commitment for what they were paying and for where the program was. I just happen to be a guy who needed some experience and had the time to do it.
"Volleyball was like a cult sport. People who played it or were involved in it were just passionate about it. There was a little fraternity on the island. We used to play against each other all the time, but outside of that group there wasn't a lot of interest back in the 1970s."
But in 1979, Shoji helped spur interest in the sport with the first of four national titles. The Wahine finished second twice and third twice at the AIAW nationals in Shoji's first four seasons before that title breakthrough.
Winning the first national championship is still the sweetest for him because it legitimized the program.
"I've always said the big hurdle made the whole thing evolve," Shoji said. "Until you win, people have doubts about your program. When you win it, you overcome a lot of doubts."
Hawaii won again in 1982 and became the first team to win back-to-back NCAA titles a year later. In 1987, the Wahine brought home their fourth championship.
NEARLY THREE DECADES since he began coaching at UH, Shoji's salary is now six figures and the popularity of the sport in Hawaii is like nowhere else in the nation.
"Dave has done a fantastic job of putting a great product on the court," said UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, a 36-year coaching veteran. "His kids are coached well. They always compete hard and he's got the fans supporting them so much.
"Creating that fan base has truly been phenomenal in the world of women's volleyball. Other programs now are following his footsteps in being able to create the same type of frenzy around the women's teams."
Shoji begins his 28th season today with a 770-145-1 record. He is third behind Banachowski (919) and St. Louis' Marilyn Nolen (779) in total victories and second to Penn State's Russ Rose in winning percentage (.846 vs. .842). He was also the first to reach 500 victories before suffering 100 losses.
HIS HAIR MIGHT be thinner, but his passion for coaching the game has not changed. Shoji still feels strongly about every loss as though it had happened yesterday.
Shoji won't look at tapes of losses. And he can easily name the talented teams that didn't reach the final four (1981, 1989, 1995 and 1999).
"I don't think people appreciated how good they were. Those were teams as talented as any teams that actually won," Shoji said. "Every one of those four teams, we had matches that were unbelievable and had its own little story in itself.
"The Michigan State match (1995), we're up 2-0 and it was just inconceivable we could lose that match at that point. ... How that match got away was inexplicable. Stuff like that happens. You never get over those kind of losses. To this day, you think back and it just takes a little bit out of your heart."
But when you win often enough, the blows of the losses are softened. Twenty-seven years can seem like an eternity when you consider most head coaches today don't make it to double figures with the same program.
Longevity is often a testament to success. And when you enjoy what you do, years can slip by like brief moments.
"It's gone by real fast," Shoji said. "Time flies when you're having fun. It's had some ups and downs, but for the most part it's been working with something you love to do, which a lot of people don't end up doing.
"I don't have any regrets about my life. It's been a fruitful profession. I don't know how it could have gone better."
When: Today, 7 p.m. Gameday
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: Live, KKEA (1420-AM)
Probable starters
Hawaii (0-0)
Ht. KPG Aces DPG S Margaret Vakasausau (Sr.) 5-8 .37 17 2.70 MB Maja Gustin (Jr.) 6-3 3.95 30 0.98 MB Lauren Duggins (Jr.) 6-0 1.85 27 2.98 OH Lily Kahumoku (Jr.) 6-2 4.51 18 2.10 OH Kim Willoughby (Jr.) 6-0 7.20 29 3.66 Opp Nohea Tano (Jr.) 5-11 1.61 9 1.59 L Melissa Villaroman (Jr.) 5-6 .37 10 1.71
Ohio state (0-0)
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Katie Virtue (Sr.) 5-9 0.57 29 1.94 MB Suzie Stiling (Sr.) 6-1 3.49 38 1.92 MB Stephanie Higgins (Fr.) 6-0 -- -- -- OH Stacey Gordon (So.) 5-11 4.75 38 3.06 OH Shelly Draeger (Sr.) 5-11 2.24 57 1.78 Opp Maria Pongonis (Fr.) 6-0 -- -- -- L undecided Notes: This is Ohio State's fourth trip to Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine lead the series 4-0 and last defeated the Buckeyes in 1998. Hawaii is 24-4 in season openers and 5-0 when opening at home in the Hawaiian Airlines Classic. Ohio State is 21-10 in season openers.
Oct. 20, 1975: Win No. 1. Hawaii defeats UC Riverside 15-17, 15-6, 15-13, 15-11 for Shoji's first collegiate victory. Shoji's highlights
Dec. 13, 1975: Hawaii reaches the AIAW final but loses 2-0 to UCLA.
Dec. 9, 1978: Hawaii loses to UCLA but defeats Pepperdine for a third-place finish at the AIAW championship.
Dec. 8, 1979: First national championship. UH overcomes a 2-0 deficit and defeats Utah State for the AIAW title. The Wahine bring home the first national title in any team sport at UH.
January 1981: Shoji attains full-time status, the first for a women's coach.
Dec. 19, 1983: Third national championship
Hawaii sweeps UCLA to become the first team to win back-to-back NCAA titles.
Dec. 19, 1982: Second national championship.
Hawaii erases a 2-0 defecit against rival USC to knock off the Trojans in five. The Wahine finish the season with a 33-1 record and Shoji is selected as the national coach of the year.
Oct. 10, 1985: Hawaii beats Pepperdine 15-13, 9-15, 15-12 in the UCLA NIVT for Shoji's 300th win.
Dec. 19, 1987: Hawaii wins its fourth national title in nine years as the Wahine defeat Stanford in four games.
Sept. 3, 1992: Shoji was the first coach to reach 500 wins and have fewer than 100 losses.
Oct. 30, 1999: The Wahine crush Fresno State for Shoji's 700th win. With the victory, the Wahine coach becomes the seventh women's volleyball coach to crack the 700 mark.
Dec. 14, 2000: Hawaii reaches its sixth NCAA final four but loses to Nebraska in the semifinals. It is the first time the Wahine do not advance to the title match.
UH Athletics
