Red Rocha wanted to see his Rainbows play one last time.

The Hawaii basketball coaching legend came close. He had plane tickets to arrive in Honolulu and watch the Rainbow Warriors play Fresno State on Feb. 6.

It was not to be.

Rocha's health declined rapidly during the last two weeks, preventing the trip, and he died in his sleep yesterday morning at his home in Corvallis, Ore., following a three-year battle with cancer. He was 86.

Rocha, the coach of the University of Hawaii's famed “;Fabulous Five”; in the early 1970s, was born in Hilo and became the state's first player to make it to the NBA despite not being deemed good enough to play basketball at Hilo High School. But the 6-foot-9 Rocha's skills improved rapidly with tutelage and he excelled at Oregon State, then enjoyed a 10-year pro career—including two NBA All-Star seasons—in stops including St. Louis, Baltimore and Syracuse. He coached the Detroit Pistons for three years before landing back in Hawaii.

No matter how far he went, the islands were always home to Rocha, a 1986 UH Sports Circle of Honor inductee and member of the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.

“;Two days after we bought the tickets is when his health started to decline. It was that fast,”; said Cheryl Narver, the youngest of his three daughters. “;He was fine, he was walking, everything. And two days later he couldn't. And so we didn't get to go home, and that's the one thing he did ask. He kept saying, 'I want to go home. I just want to go home.' And (during) the last couple of weeks, the one thing that really gave him pleasure, is all his Hawaiian music Especially Iz Kamakawiwoole.”;

Ephraim J. Rocha—called Red because of his hair—lived in Corvallis for the last 23 years, a pact with his late wife, Ginger, who wanted to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Rocha would always keep tabs on the Rainbows, though, current and former.

He coached the Rainbow Warriors for 10 seasons (1963-73), succeeding Al Saake and being replaced by Bruce O'Neil. He finished with an overall record of 112-136, putting him second all-time in wins to Riley Wallace.

Near the end of his tenure, he guided his “;Fab Five”; team—starring Dwight Holiday, Jerome Freeman, John Penebacker, Al Davis and current UH coach Bob Nash—to UH's best two-year record in school history (47-8) and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1972.

KFVE color commentator Artie Wilson said Rocha's national pedigree gave UH instant credibility. His teams, though, respected him for his humanity.

“;I wouldn't call him the greatest X's and O's coach. He understood the game of basketball real well, tried to keep it simple. Allowed you to play,”; said Wilson, who played on one of the Fab Five teams. “;He wanted effort out of you as a player, and he wanted you to be a good person as well. That's what I'll always remember about Red. Life lessons extended beyond just the basketball court. He was a good man, cared about his family, cared about people, and had integrity and character.”;

He set his share of benchmarks along the way. Rocha founded the Rainbow Classic in the 1964-65 season along with Chuck Leahey. He coached the first UH player ever drafted to the NBA, Fred Smith (1968), and the program's first All-American, Nash, also the school's first first-round draftee.

Narver said her father kept in touch with the Fab Five all the way through last year, when Rocha made his final visit to Hawaii in November.

“;I'll tell you the one thing about Dad that I always marveled at, is so many of the guys thought of him as way more than their coach,”; she said. “;He would get phone calls in the middle of the night, 'Coach, we just had a baby girl!'—from a player who had been gone four or five years. But they felt so close to him. They wanted to share those kind of moments with him because that's how much respect and how much love they had for him.”;

Rocha averaged 10.9 points and 6.6 rebounds in his 10-year pro career. He spent the most time with the Syracuse Nationals. He is also a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame, the Pac-10 Hall of Honor and the WAC Court of Honor.

Rocha was preceded in death by his wife, Ginger. He is survived by daughters Kay Mosher, Terry Bannon and Cheryl Narver, nine grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

He is also survived by Molly Bloomfield, with whom he shared the last five years of his life.

Funeral arrangements are set for St. Mary's Catholic Church at 10 a.m. Saturday in Corvallis, with a celebration of his life to follow at 1 p.m. at Adair Village. For more information, call McHenry's Funeral Home at (541) 757-8141.