Wallace makes it official

The UH basketball coach will honor a contract that calls for him to step down after the season

Don't call it a retirement.

Riley Wallace made that clear at a news conference yesterday in formally announcing that he would step aside as head coach of the Hawaii basketball team when his current contract expires after his 20th season.

"I'm telling you I still have the energy to coach, I'm not retiring today by any means," Wallace said during the news conference held at the Edwin S.N. Wong Hospitality Suite, a few strides away from the Stan Sheriff Center court where he led the Rainbow Warriors to his 325th win the previous night.

"I still have a lot of life. I still have a passion for my team and for winning and the things we try to do here at the University of Hawaii."

Wallace's tenure at UH will end when his contract, which includes a clause calling for this to be his final season, expires on April 30.

The news conference came with the Rainbows in the midst of a 9-4 start with the Western Athletic Conference schedule set to open on Thursday at New Mexico State.

He said he informed the team of the impending announcement following Thursday's win over Tennessee-Martin.

The Rainbows have put together seven straight winning seasons and Wallace needs nine more wins to match former UH women's coach Vince Goo as the state's winningest collegiate basketball coach.

The Rainbows still have at least 18 games left before Wallace ends his term as head coach. They resume practice this morning and depart on their first WAC road trip on Monday.

"I met last night with my team and said we're not playing this season for Riley Wallace, we're playing this season for all of us," he said. "We're off to a good start. It's a very special team and we have to prove we can win on the road. ... We'll give you everything we've got, just like we have every year."

Among those attending yesterday's press conference were Wallace's wife, Joan, former UH baseball coach Les Murakami and current coaches Jim Bolla, Bob Coolen and Mike Wilton, along with boosters and UH staff members.

Current players Bobby Nash, Matt Gibson and Dominic Waters were also in the room, as were former 'Bows Nerijus Puida and Lance Takaki.

Wallace's statement ended any speculation over his future at the school, though it begins a new round of questions over what he will do next and who will succeed him as head coach.

Wallace didn't rule out continuing his coaching career though he added he has no idea of his next step. But he did have a definite opinion on the future direction of the program.

"I'll tell you today, the next coach of the University of Hawaii should be sitting right there, Bob Nash," Wallace said, motioning toward the Rainbows' longtime associate coach.

"And don't try to make him into Riley Wallace because, trust me it ain't close, he's better. He calls his own shots and he's got a book this thick of his own ideas that he's gathered through all the coaches he's worked with.

"We have to take care of our own. If you've been here that long, and you've worked that hard and you've been that dedicated then he deserves a shot."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier is in Arizona this week in advance of the Fiesta Bowl, and said an advisory committee would be formed and the process would start by the end of January.

He said he would like to have a new coach in place shortly after the Rainbows conclude their season.

"At the latest it would be shortly after the Final Four is over," he said in a conference call with reporters.

Wallace and Frazier said the school would move forward with a new coach for next season regardless of how far this year's team advances.

"I'm not being fired by any means," Wallace said. "I'm stepping down as head coach at the University of Hawaii because I'm proud of what my staff and teams have done."

Wallace's current contract, which went into effect on May 1, 2005, included a raise and a clause that states that the deal would not be extended or renewed, "and the University will not negotiate a new contract with Coach."

Though he expressed his feeling that the clause shouldn't have been written into the contract, he took responsibility for agreeing to the terms.

"The bottom line is Riley Wallace signed the contract and when you sign a contract you're only as good as the signature on that contract," Wallace said.

"Everybody recommended to me not to sign the contract, but I did. So you can't hold anybody accountable but me, myself."

Wallace had an initial three-year contract with an option to extend for two more. When the extension was approved in July 2005, Wallace was given the raise to make $250,000 in the first year of the extension and $275,000 this year.

"A compromise was reached with the Board of Regents and with Riley's representatives to increase Riley's base salary for the last two years of that contract," Frazier said. "And that was contingent upon that those were ... for the last two years of his contract and that at the end of his contract everyone was looking at retirement."

Wallace indicated he had hoped signing the contract would smooth the way for him to hire his brother Loren as an assistant last season, but the hiring wasn't approved.

"I signed that contract hoping it would please the athletic director to where I would get what I wanted and he would get what he wanted and I ended up getting 0-for-2," Wallace said.

The announcement was timed so the program could move forward and Wallace said he was assured by Frazier that Nash would be considered for the opening.

"He gave me a handshake and said he would do that," Wallace said. "That's all you can do, is trust the man for his word."

Frazier said hasn't spoken to Nash, adding that he had already received e-mails "from agents throughout the country representing coaches from college and NBA positions."

He said the salary for the next coach "will be competitive with the other salaries that are in our conference."

Nash declined to comment on his expected candidacy for the position.

Wallace's departure at the end of the season will impact the futures of Nash, fellow associate coach Jackson Wheeler and second-year assistant Alika Smith. Nash, a member of UH's Fabulous Five in the early 1970s, is in his 26th year on the staff. Wheeler is in his 17th.

"When you work together so many years as we have -- we're best of friends, we have a great working relationship, and it's just a great environment -- it's hard to see something come to an end that's been such a big part of your life," Wheeler said. "Riley's love for the university is just unquestionable. I think it was a hard day for him, but I think he feels content with his decision.

"I think when people look back they'll appreciate him a lot more than they do now. I think that's always how it is."

Wallace maintained his composure throughout the news conference, only wavering slightly when he spotted the wife of Stan Sheriff, the late UH athletic director who hired him in 1987, near the entrance to the conference room.

"I can't give enough credit today to Mr. Stan Sheriff ... for what he did for our program in basketball," Wallace said.

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