HONOLULU — With 20 years gone by since his final Hawaii volleyball match, Costas Theocharidis was no longer his unstoppable self.
In fact, he was stopped every few feet as he tried to make his way around the perimeter of the Stan Sheriff Center court on Wednesday night. Between the well-wishers, old friends and interview seekers, the former Rainbow Warrior great from Greece was back in high demand like in his early 2000s heyday.
“You know what, it’s like I never left,” Theocharidis told Spectrum News in an arena tunnel as he watched the next generation of UH players contend with No. 7 Pepperdine, a physical battle won by the Rainbow Warriors in four sets.
“Twenty years later, people still remember you. I mean, you cannot describe the feeling coming back here. You never left. You feel a part of the ohana. Part of something much bigger than you. This is something that endures (time), honestly.”
He received a loud ovation from the crowd of 4,131 (5,059 tickets issued) when he was displayed in his seat on the arena’s big screen during the first set. He then appeared on the Spectrum Sports broadcast for a long conversation with Kanoa Leahey and Chris McLachlin, the latter of whom called many of his matches alongside the late Jim Leahey in the KFVE era.
Visiting the islands from New England, where he works in real estate, to see two games this week was a spontaneous decision, Theocharidis said, one aided by the team’s national success and the prominence of Greek stars Spyros Chakas and Dimitrios Mouchlias on the roster.
With Wednesday’s 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21 decision driven by the return of starting setter Jakob Thelle from a four-match absence due to knee issues – and a combined 33 kills from Chakas and Mouchlias – UH (14-0) ran its home winning streak to a program-record 27 matches. The Rainbow Warriors have designs on a third straight national title, something unprecedented in school history.
UH coach Charlie Wade said he and Theocharidis, who was coached by Mike Wilton, talked in his office for more than an hour this week about the state of the program.
“He is a proud alumnus at this point,” Wade said. “Living in Hawaii meant so much to him and being a part of this program has meant so much to him that he still follows everything that we’re doing. He had lots of questions kind of about how we got back to this and what’s taken place.”
Two banners now hang in the rafters where the one Theocharidis helped raise – the first for a UH men’s team sport – was taken down amid an early 2000s NCAA crackdown on foreign players who had experience on professional teams, be it paid or unpaid. UH was infamously forced to vacate its 2002 title.
Theocharidis said he is long past the NCAA’s September 2003 ruling that came a handful of months after he finished his playing career as the program’s first four-time AVCA All-American.
“Honestly, it really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t,” he said. “It’s memories. We know we won the championship. We know we were the best. Just having a banner, that really doesn’t matter. This is just hardware. Nobody’s going to take away those memories. But what I’m glad, is, again … seeing the program reach its pinnacle, and seeing the championships coming through. Because the state of Hawaii does not deserve anything less.”
Theocharidis called the experience of playing in the Sheriff “probably the best volleyball environment you will ever experience” even considering some of the global gyms he played in as a member of the Greek national team.
He has had a chance to sit down with Mouchlias, who grew up a 30-minute drive away from his own hometown. Last year, after UH won the title, Mouchlias sent Theocharidis an image of himself holding the trophy side-by-side with Theocharidis doing the same 20 years prior.
Usually he is all for someone blazing their own path in life, but he was touched by Mouchlias’ accompanying message, “Thank you for inspiring us.”
Theocharidis didn’t know how to respond.
“When you have reached the point when you can truly inspire people, and you can allow them to push harder and dig deeper to fulfill their potential, to make the leap of faith to leave a small town from Greece, to come all the way to Hawaii, which is halfway around the world, to pursue what I did? Hat’s off to them.
“(And with the championships), I’m immensely happy and so proud of that. And there is a lot of Greek talent and I’m glad Charlie Wade and his coaches are actually tapping into that, because sure there’s a lot of other Greek players, very talented, who probably want to make the trip to Hawaii. The more the better.”
Chakas, after recording an 18-kill, 12-dig double-double on .516 hitting, said he could not wait to meet the program’s all-time kills leader (2,198).
“Back in Greece I had older teammates who had experienced Costas when he was growing up playing. They all told me how good he was and how special he was as a player,” Chakas said. “And then coming here watching what he achieved, being a team kill leader and everything, both me and Dimi are looking up to him. So, I think that is great.”
When Theocharidis made the decision to come back this week – the last time he was in the islands in 2016, he was with his wife and three daughters – he did not realize that UH’s 2022 national championship ring ceremony would be held on Friday’s rematch with Pepperdine.
Yes, Pepperdine, the same program he helped defeat in the 2002 final (and was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in so doing).
“That’s going to be really exciting. So I’m glad I timed my trip like this, I didn’t even know about that! Wow. It was meant to be, man.”
The first 3,000 fans through the gates Friday will receive a national championship commemorative coin.
Here’s a few more Theocharidis accomplishments that remain in the UH record books:
- Only two-time AVCA Player of the Year in program history (2001, 2003), and first four-time AVCA All-American
- Program’s kill leader at 2,198 more than 500 clear of No. 2 Mark Presho, and is No. 2 in career kills per set at 5.51, behind only Yuval Katz’s two-year average of 7.81
- Took nearly 1,200 more swings than any other UH player
- Of UH’s single-match top 10 kill performances in the rally scoring era, owns five
- Owns the UH record for aces in a match with nine at USC
- Won the Jack Bonham Award as UH’s most outstanding overall male athlete
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.