Bolla looking for opponents, coaches

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jim Bolla, seen here with daughter Sasha, might have to cancel the Rainbow Wahine's season-opening tournament in November. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i's season-opening tournament in November might be cancelled because of a lack of teams, Bolla said yesterday.

Hawai'i has not secured any teams for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic on Nov. 20 to 21, he said. Last year, the tournament had four teams.

"If we can find two teams, we can maybe do a round-robin thing," said Bolla, who inherited the scheduling problem after his July 16 hiring. "But that's looking bleak right now. It's just so late in the year."

A former UNLV coach, Bolla last month became the sixth Rainbow Wahine head coach, succeeding Vince Goo, the state's winningest basketball coach who retired after 17 seasons.

Yesterday, Bolla said the uncertainty surrounding the coaching change at Hawai'i may have affected the tournament scheduling, along with failed verbal commitments from opponents.

One of the teams originally penciled in for the tournament, Pepperdine, is undergoing a coaching change and pulled out. Other teams that showed interest but declined were Texas San Antonio, Texas Southern, UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State, according to UH records.

Since none of the schools signed a contract, there will be no financial penalty for breach of contract, Bolla said.

Hawai'i's power rating — a figure that is used for postseason selection — could be affected if it is forced to drop the tournament, said UH sports information assistant Neal Iwamoto. There is no NCAA mandated minimum on games played for a school, he said.

Besides filling the schedule, Bolla said his priority is to hire an associate coach and an assistant coach. The associate position pays $37,620 to $67,716 per year, and the assistant job pays $22,288 to $46,392, according to the school's "Work at UH" Web page.

Bolla said he has fielded close to a dozen applications, including ones from Goo's assistants Da Houl and Serenda Valdez.

The closing date for the associate position is tomorrow, and the assistant position closes Monday. Bolla said he hopes to hire an associate when he returns from Las Vegas on Aug. 18, and the assistant by Aug. 20. Bolla leaves today for Las Vegas to finish some business.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.