There was an unmistakable message from the crowd at the University of Hawai'i basketball team's final game — aka The Life of Riley Show — Saturday.

One that you hope isn't lost on its intended recipient, athletic director Herman Frazier.

Somewhere between the booing of Frazier's introduction and the enthusiastic, Danny Kaleikini-led chorus of "We want (Bob) Nash!" these stakeholders in the athletic program had a point to make. Several, actually.

Foremost among them that they were holding Frazier, the man seen as forcing out Wallace, responsible for hiring a quality replacement. And if that isn't Nash there had better be a compelling reason why not.

The booing was regrettable especially coming before the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference and other visitors. But also not surprising given the disenfranchisement some fans say they feel with Frazier. Unlike the media, who must go through his people to get word to or from Frazier, the more vocal majority were having none of that. They went straight to the source without mincing words. It being hard to mince, slice or dice the ad hominem "Booooo!"

You expected there to be some resentment over Wallace's mandated departure and the man seen as mandating it. And undoubtedly some frustration over the lack of a football schedule. But this was the loudest any UH figure has ever been taken to task in the Stan Sheriff Center.

So loud, you'd have thought some of the all-time UH antagonists, Billy Tubbs, Jerry Tarkanian, Al Scates and Rick Majerus had walked through the door together.

Most fans might not care whether the athletic department budget is tended in red, black or purple. Only that its teams win. But when it comes to coaches who have given their careers to the school and made themselves part of the community, there is a bond. There was that connection with Wallace who has invested a quarter century. There is even more of one with Nash, the most visible member of the Fabulous Five of the 1970s.

But it isn't just nostalgia that binds them to Nash. There is an appreciation of his enduring commitment to the state and a respect for the job he did playing and serving for four head coaches. There is an understanding of the rapport he has with players and an acknowledgement of the class with which he has carried himself in times good and bad.

The ring of the boos might have faded from his ears by now but it would be a mistake for Frazier to forget the message that came with them.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.