HILO, Hawaii — An outpouring of grief from members of the Hilo basketball community followed news of the death of beloved coaching icon Jimmy Yagi on Wednesday morning.
Yagi, 88, who took the University of Hawaii at Hilo from a relatively anonymous program to a place of regional prominence, died at Hilo Medical Center after experiencing health concerns the last few years.
He is best remembered for guiding the Vulcans into the NAIA era in the 1976-77 season and inflicting the community with “Vulcan Fever,” routinely selling out the 3,000-seat Hilo Civic Auditorium.
Yagi, a Hilo High and University of Hawaii-Manoa alumnus who studied hoops under former Rainbows coach Ah Chew Goo, recruited a combination of players from Hawaii and California as the backbone of that team. It was a group described upon its 2017 induction to the Vulcan Athletic Hall of Fame as “smarter than it was talented.”
That was perhaps fitting for the diminutive Yagi, a standout with the Hilo Vikings who saw much less playing time in college. But with encouragement in his coaching potential from his friend and mentor Goo, he put aside a burgeoning business career.
The Vulcans shocked much more seasoned teams — including Division I programs Nebraska and New Mexico — on the way to the first of three NAIA District 2 championships and appearances in the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City.
A player on that team, Bill O’Rear, went on to coach more than 90 basketball camps with Yagi over a 30-year run. He called his old coach “the grandfather of small college basketball in Hawaii,” who helped set the standard for Hilo’s local peers Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii.
Yagi retired from UHH in 1985 and conducted his camps — which eventually became known as the Jimmy Yagi Basketball Camp — for six decades to emphasize positivity in life through basketball. That even took him to Europe, where he worked camps with Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.
“Coach Yagi is the best person that I’ve ever met — kind, selfless and willing to help anyone who ever reached out to him,” O’Rear, a former sports editor of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, told Spectrum News. “He loved his players and used a high-energy, positive coaching style to inspire his teams and get the most out of them.”
Yagi was known for his calm demeanor amid high-stress situations. O’Rear recalled that about him specifically late in the game against New Mexico and Lobos star Michael Cooper. After the Vulcans rallied from a 10-point hole late in the game, Yagi told the team during a timeout that all it needed was a defensive stop.
Hilo got it and pulled off an 81-78 shocker.
Yagi remained lifelong friends with Goo until the latter’s death in 2015. In 2017, Yagi, already a local hoops legend, was honored to take part in the Vulcan 1976-77 team’s induction into the school’s Hall of Fame.
"One of the realities of aging is fading health, memory and becoming irrelevant," Yagi said then. "But this weekend, with most of the group returning to the original scene of the crime 40 years later, to finally be recognized as a team, I feel relevant, happy and excited."
Yagi remains Hilo’s winningest coach against college opposition with a 218-87 record over his 12 years, and was 252-126 against all teams. Eleven of those were winning seasons.
His legacy lives on with the Coach Jimmy Yagi Scholarship at UH Hilo.
He is survived by wife Jeanne and sons Brady and Kirby. Services are pending.
More tributes for Yagi poured in via UHH Athletics:
Former UHH baseball coach and Yagi basketball assistant Joey Estrella: "I was so honored to have had Coach Yagi in my life. He was my coach and later a coaching colleague, mentor and friend. Words cannot describe what he meant to me and the influence he had on my life in the most positive way. I will be forever grateful. Every time we worked together, he made me feel special. He was a pleasure to be around and influenced so many people. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten."
Former UHH basketball coach and AD Ramon Goya: "A businessman turned coach, Jimmy found his real passion in coaching and teaching basketball. His dedication and commitment to basketball is second to none. For Jimmy, coaching went far beyond winning and losing. His genuine care and personal relationship with each individual made him special and led him to an accomplished and illustrious career. Basketball became his tool to teach life's skills to his players and the youth in his clinics.
“As a friend, words cannot express the deep sense of loss I feel, but I find great comfort in knowing that his legacy will live on in our community and the many people he came in touch with."
UHH Athletic Director Patrick Guillen: "Coach Yagi is a beloved and iconic figure in the State of Hawai'i as a legendary coach, educator and mentor. He is a legend in the coaching profession and a giant of a human being. His passing is a tremendous loss for our community, but we know he leaves a legacy that will live on through all the lives he has touched."
UHH basketball coach Kaniela Aiona: "Coach Yagi has been an inspirational figure for myself and so many of us here on the Big Island. He touched so many lives. His impact on this community will never be forgotten."
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.