Wallace returns to basketball roots

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The head coach of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team played college basketball at Centenary College in Shreveport from 1959-62. He also was an assistant coach there for nine years before becoming the head coach in 1976.

He was fired after less than two seasons, but that didn't stop him from taking the Rainbow Warriors on a tour of the campus yesterday.

"So much of my history is there," said Wallace, who also met his wife, Joan, at Centenary. "And I still have friends there."

As a former player and coach at Centenary, Wallace is also familiar with Louisiana Tech and the city of Ruston. The two schools were part of a fierce rivalry back then.

"I hated Ruston when it was only a one-hour trip for me (from Shreveport)," he said. "Now I'm 12 hours away (in Honolulu), so I guess I hate it 12 times as much."

The UH players joked about Wallace's "ancient history" tour yesterday, and even tried to get some information from some of his friends at Centenary.

"I asked one of the coaches how good Coach Wallace was," said UH sophomore Haim Shimonovich. "And I found out that the truth is not always what (Wallace) talks about. He's always telling us what a good player he was, but I'm not sure."