After a lengthy national search for a new basketball head coach, the University of Hawai'i turned to the man upstairs.

Bob Nash, a legendary player and longtime assistant coach for the Rainbow Warriors, was named head coach of the men's program yesterday.

"This is the only job I ever wanted," said Nash, 56. "This is it. I wanted to coach at my alma mater and today it called. I'm ready to serve."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier said Nash has agreed to a three-year contract. Frazier said Nash — whose office is two floors above Frazier's — will be paid "north of $200,000" per year, but he did not specify a figure.

Frazier said the contract includes raises and incentives, and options at the end of each season.

"At the conclusion of every year, I could put another year on his contract," Frazier said.

Nash succeeds Riley Wallace, who recently completed his 20th season as head coach of the 'Bows. Wallace's resignation will go into effect April 30.

Nash has been affiliated with Hawai'i basketball as a player and a coach for 28 years, including all 20 years of the Wallace tenure. In effect, he is being promoted from top associate coach to head coach, a position he said he has coveted for 20 years.

HONED HIS SKILLS

Nash said the only other time he applied for a head coach's position was 20 years ago, when Wallace got the job.

"I spoke with (then-athletic director) Stan Sheriff and he felt that at that point and time in my career, I wasn't ready to assume a head coaching position," Nash said. "So I said, 'OK, I'll hone my skills.' I didn't know it was going to take 20 years to hone it."

Nash's patience was rewarded yesterday, even though the announcement may have come later than expected.

On March 23, UH announced that it had received 71 applications to replace Wallace.

Frazier and an advisory committee interviewed three "finalists" this week. The other two are believed to be Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Dean Demopoulos and Rice head coach Willis Wilson.

"I can't confirm names, and here's why ... if you get a guy who's at a program where he's a head coach," Frazier said. "That's why we do it secretly. There may be guys out there who may want to be in your pool, but they don't want their name out there (publicly) because it could affect things back on their campus."

Frazier conducted preliminary interviews at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta two weeks ago, and was in Los Angeles to conduct the final interviews this week.

But all the while, the best candidate was here.

"In the best interest of the institution, we conducted a national search," Frazier said. "And our national search brought us back to one of our own."

Nash said he was offered the job at 10:45 a.m. yesterday. By 2:30 p.m., he was introduced by Frazier as the new head coach during a press conference at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It is the first head coaching job for Nash, although he has filled in for Wallace several times in recent years when Wallace was ill.

RECRUITING AFFECTED?

The length of the search process irked some supporters of the program, and may have affected the recruiting of new players for next season.

However, Wallace's staff of Nash, Jackson Wheeler, Alika Smith and Eran Ganot have continued their normal duties during the search process.

One of Nash's first duties will be to assemble a staff, including a replacement for his now-vacant position. Wheeler, Smith and Ganot each said they would like to remain on staff, although they will have to reapply.

"There's a lot of work to be done and we have to hit the ground running," Nash said. "But I think we're on track.

"I don't care how long it took, as long as it got to this point where I'm the head coach."

Wallace announced his resignation in late December, and had been endorsing Nash ever since.

"I knew he was the best person out there for the job," Wallace said. "He knows and understands the state and the school and the program. That's very, very important in Hawai'i."

Nash also received support from current UH players, which includes his son, Bobby. Twelve players from last season's 18-13 team are eligible to return to play for Nash next season.

"We heard all the names, but Coach Nash was the one we wanted all along," said Stephen Verwers, who will be a senior next season. "These past few weeks, we've been working with him as our coach, so we're excited that it's official now."

SPEEDING THINGS UP

Nash said he plans to use a more up-tempo style when the 'Bows take the court next season.

"It's a fast-paced game, so I want it to be sped up so these guys can have fun with the game," he said. "Give them the freedom to create a little bit more — not be so rigid in our offense where we have to come out and set patterns."

Nash said he would like the current 'Bows to resemble the teams he played on when he was a star with the famous "Fabulous Five" Hawai'i teams of the early 1970s.

"When we played, we played at a feverous pitch," Nash said. "I want us to get back to that. I want to press a little more. I want to be defense first. I think you win championships with defense."

Nash, who is 6 feet 8 and 235 pounds, is considered one of UH's greatest players. In two seasons with the 'Bows, he averaged 16.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.

He still holds many of the program's rebounding records, including most rebounds in a game (30) and season (361). He was a first-round pick in the 1972 NBA draft and played eight years of professional basketball before returning to UH as an assistant coach in 1981.

"He's done the job as a player and he's done it as a coach," Wallace said. "He knows what it takes to get it done here better than any candidate they could have come up with."

Nash already expressed ideas to improve the program yesterday, including upgrading the practice gyms, raising the team's grade-point average and increasing marketing campaigns to build attendance.

Two of his "Fabulous Five" teammates — Al Davis and Dwight Holiday — attended the press conference yesterday. Nash said he would like his past teammates to serve as "ambassadors."

"People don't realize there are a lot of great basketball fans out here that are not going to the games, and I have to figure out a way to get them back in the arena," Nash said.

"That's where I have my teammates as ambassadors. I want them to help me promote this."

Nash and his wife, Domelynne, are UH graduates. Their daughter, Erika, also is a UH graduate, and Bobby is on pace to graduate next month.

"I love this university and I want it to be the best, and I think that was the one thing that came through loud and clear," Nash said.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.