University of Hawai’i at Hilo Athletic Director Dexter Irvin has announced that Men’s Basketball Head Coach Jeff Law will not be returning to the Vulcan bench after completing his 15th season.
Law has accepted a position at former Pacific West Conference institution Western New Mexico University.
“Every assistant coach looks for that break and I’m very grateful the University and the Hilo community gave me mine,” Law said. “I’ve learned much over the past 15 years about myself, coaching and people but it’s time that I move on.
“Hilo holds a special place for anyone who has been here and it will with me.”
Law took over the program in 1998 and put together the framework that ended a 6-year string of losing seasons.
The longest tenured coach in UHH basketball history, Law finishes his Vulcan career with a 208-188 (.525) record and is the Vulcans’ second all-time winningest coach. He is just one of two coaches to make the 200-victory plateau joining veteran Jimmy Yagi’s 218-win career.
At the end of the 2002-03 season, he became the first UH Hilo basketball coach to take a team to an NCAA Division II Regional.
Two years later, his team held the West Region’s top spot for three consecutive weeks, claimed the Pacific West Conference title and finish ranked 8th in the final NABC/NCAA Division II poll. The team’s final 25-4 record was the second best winning percentage in Vulcan basketball history at .862.
That same season Law was named the Pacific West Conference and NABC/NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year.
During his tenure, 40 players earned all-conference recognition.
“The University is very grateful for the stability and leadership Coach Law has provided to Vulcans men’s basketball for the past fifteen years,” Irvin said. “We look forward to a new opportunity and we will move forward as quickly as allowable to hire a new and well qualified coach.
“Our Men’s basketball program has been the flagship of our athletic program, and the accomplishments of our students and the team is an important in building the overall success of athletics at UH Hilo.”
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