Former islanders
hit jackpot in VegasJohnson and Nash find success
and happiness at UNLV
LAS VEGAS, Nev. >> L&L Drive-Inn is just down the street. A new manapua shop just opened.
There is no shortage of places to get sushi or crack seed. And one can always drop by the Ukulele Lounge.
Thanksgiving Tournament
Where: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nev.
Tomorrow: No. 2 Hawaii (30-1) vs. Weber State (7-19), 3 p.m.; UNLV (11-17) vs. Kentucky (14-16), 5 p.m.
Friday: Hawaii vs. Kentucky, 3 p.m.; UNLV vs. Weber State
TV: None
Radio: Hawaii matches, KKEA 1420-AM
Finding little slices of Hawaii in this city is not hard at all. It's been touted as Hawaii's ninth island, there are so many transplanted islanders living here.
Two of them have settled in as assistant coaches for the UNLV women's volleyball team, a team coached by one of the University of Hawaii's greatest players: Deitre Collins. Former Warrior volleyball player Matt Johnson and Erika Nash, an all-state player at University High School, are about to conclude their second season with the Rebels.
It hasn't been the season they had hoped for, not with a number of injuries preventing a set lineup. UNLV went 4-10 in Mountain West Conference play, and lost its first-round MWC tournament match to San Diego State last week.
The Rebels (11-17) conclude the year with their Thanksgiving Tournament, which features Weber State (7-19), Kentucky (14-16) and the No. 2 Rainbow Wahine (30-1). UNLV won't see Hawaii during the two-day event -- by design, says Collins. She and her team saw enough of the Wahine back on Sept. 30 when the Rebels fell hard, 30-16, 30-9, 30-22.
Hawaii opens the tournament tomorrow (3 p.m. Hawaii time) against Weber State, a team the Wahine hosted but didn't play in the Sprint Hawaii Invitational on Sept. 12-13. On Friday (3 p.m. Hawaii time), the Wahine take on Kentucky.
Collins is hoping that having Hawaii in the event will help with fan attendance. The Wahine have not played here since 1997 and "people want to see good volleyball," said Collins, in her eighth season here. "It's good for everybody to have a team like Hawaii in the tournament. I think it will be good, attendance-wise, and I'm glad it worked out that we could have them here."
It's also worked out for Nash, who is in charge of recruiting, and Johnson, in charge of scouting and running practice. Collins had hoped to get Johnson a year earlier, but he had taken an assistant's job at Utah State.
Nash literally walked into the job. She was up visiting her dad, Rainbow basketball associate head coach Bob Nash, while Collins was also making a visit.
"She was telling dad she needed a second assistant and I said, 'What about me?' " said Erika Nash, a four-year player at Bradley who coached at Iolani School and University High School. "It's been such a good move for me, the best decision I ever made.
"I love the recruiting part of it. I enjoy looking for new talent, talking to kids, traveling. It helps that I went through the (recruiting) process. I can also give parents the same rationale that I used on my parents to move here. I tell them, 'Your daughter will be fine. We are a family.' "
Recruiting was a family affair for Erika Nash. She spent many summers in the gym with her father helping him scout for the Rainbows.
"We'd talk about the players he was looking at and what he was looking for," she said. "I'd watch one court for him, tell him why I liked a certain player. Watching players is something I grew up doing.
"And watching tape. I'd stay up late with him to keep him company and, after a while, his eyes would start to go. He'd ask me what number somebody on the tape would be. This is something I always wanted to do. But we have a lot of competition for fans. Would you rather be sitting in a gym watching volleyball, or have your chance at winning Megabucks?"
Selling UNLV volleyball isn't hard. It's selling a program based in Las Vegas.
"Volleyball players and their parents, for the most part, are very conservative," Nash said. "The Strip stereotypes us. The hardest thing is to get people here. Once they visit, they love it."
"Getting past the Vegas thing is the No. 1 obstacle," said Johnson, who grew up in Ewa Beach. "I compare The Strip to Waikiki. If you live in Hawaii, you don't shop on Kalakaua, you don't spend a lot of time down there. I only go to The Strip when friends are in town.
"UNLV is a good school with good degree programs. But it's like Hawaii. People don't think about going to Hawaii to go to school. They don't think about going to Vegas to go to school."
Johnson and Nash both have thoughts about returning to Hawaii to work. So does Collins, who admits her dream job would be to coach the Wahine.
"I'm not actively looking," said Johnson, who spent seven years as the UH men's assistant before going to Utah State. "I have a family, we bought a house. That's something we couldn't do in Hawaii.
"But my wife (Shalis) and I talk about it all the time. You miss the sound of the ocean, how green it is, things you take for granted."
Said Nash: "This is great for now. It's nice not to be in a small town. Getting back to Hawaii is cheap and easy. I talk to my family every day so I stay connected.
"We have players from Hawaii (Iolani's Kristin Koochi and Honolulu native Tamara Kauliakamoa) who get great care packages. And it's easy to get Spam musubi and chicken katsu. There's never a question about getting local food. The L&L man (founder Eddie Flores) was here the other day so you know this is the real stuff."
Collins said she didn't plan on the Hawaii connection but is happy to have it.
"There's one thing about the way I hire," she said. "It's got to be somebody I know and trust or be recommended by someone I know and trust. Dave (Shoji) and Charlie (Wade, Wahine assistant) highly recommended Matt, and Bob (Nash) knew what Erika had done for him.
"Plus they're both good at what they do. We all understand what winning is about and that we need to get the most out of the players we have. We are a good staff."
Notes: Hawaii is on a 29-match winning streak. The Rainbow Wahine lead the series with Weber State 1-0 and Kentucky 3-0. ... Hawaii's only meeting with Weber State came in 1983, when Collins was a senior on the Wahine team that went on to win the NCAA title. Hawaii last saw Kentucky also in 1983, defeating the Wildcats in the regional championship and preventing Kentucky from advancing to the NCAA final four on its home court.
