Furtado to coach Thomas "Chico" Furtado will replace Pete Smith as coach of the Kalaheo boys basketball team, athletic director Lee Cashman said yesterday.
Kalaheo boys
Chico will be the man for
both girls and boys basketballBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comFurtado has led the Kalaheo girls team to the last five Oahu Interscholastic Association championships and is in his seventh year at the helm. He was Smith's assistant for 14 years with the boys team.
"Chico has proven himself in our program," Cashman said. "He's learned what it takes to run a successful program and we feel he deserves the chance as Pete's successor."
Furtado's girls team is 5-2 this season and likely headed to the OIA playoffs and a chance at a sixth title.
"He has an intensity and a love of the game," Cashman said. "He enjoys working with the student-athletes and has a close relationship with them. He's a very popular coach."
Furtado, who will turn 45 in August, was once an assistant for Smith at Chaminade.
"It's something I've wanted to do and have talked to Pete about for a while," Furtado said about his new role. "I like Kalaheo. The kids are good kids and the administration and athletic director have always treated me fairly. I'm excited, but at the same time, it's a natural progression."
Smith's accomplishments won't be easy to duplicate. A month before resigning in March, he led the Mustangs to their 14th OIA title since 1984 and a fifth-place finish in the state tournament. Kalaheo also won three state championships -- 1985, 1995 and 2001 -- under Smith. He'll also be remembered for 76 consecutive OIA victories between 1993 and 2000.
Furtado will coach both the boys and girls teams during the 2003-04 season and the dual role will be evaluated after that.
"I've already been working with both teams for seven years," Furtado said. "Now, because of more responsibility with the boys team, especially more organizational stuff, it will be a matter of how much responsibility to delegate to my assistants on the girls team. Coaching both teams is something short-term, one or two years. If the girls team was senior-laden, I would probably be moving on, but we have 10 freshmen and sophomores."
Just as Smith groomed Furtado to take over, Furtado will be doing the same with one of his assistants, brother Dave Furtado. He's also talked with Alika Smith, Pete's son, about becoming a Mustangs boys assistant. Alika, who starred as a University of Hawaii guard from 1994 to '98, is an assistant at Hawaii-Hilo. Walter Marciel will also be one of Furtado's assistants on the boys team.
Reports have surfaced that Cashman plans to retire as AD later this year and that Pete Smith is the likely replacement.
"If Pete is Mr. Cashman's successor, his office will be right there and it will be business as usual, but from a different perspective," Furtado said.
Furtado likes the core of players returning to the boys team.
"When you can start with Sam Wilhoite (a 6-foot-7 Star-Bulletin all-state first-team selection) at the post, everything else falls into place," he said.
Kalaheo High School