UH drops women’s basketball coach

HONOLULU – University of Hawai‘i Athletics Director Jim Donovan announced Wednesday that Dana Takahara-Dias will not be retained as head women’s basketball coach, effective immediately.

“I really appreciate everything Dana has done to move the program forward, especially in regards to off the court issues,” Donovan said. “That said, our expectation is that we have a winning, successful program on the court and that is why we are making the change.”

Takahara-Dias was named the program’s seventh head coach on May 28, 2009. During her three seasons her teams compiled an overall record of 32-58 and 15-31 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Rainbow Wahine finished in a tie for fifth place in the WAC standings this year and swept three WAC series for the first time since 2006. UH was eliminated by Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Takahara-Dias received her first collegiate heading coaching position when she replaced Jim Bolla prior to the 2009-10 season. She was a former UH assistant under legendary coach Vince Goo was head coach of the Team Aloha All-Star High School Girls team prior to taking the job. She also coached the Moanalua High School girls’ team to five state championship appearances in six years, including a runner-up finish in 1992.

As a walk-on point guard for UH, Takahara-Dias later earned a scholarship and played in 80 career games. She posted career averages of 2.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. Takahara-Dias started 17 games at point guard as a junior and served as team captain during her senior season. She joined the Rainbow Wahine from University Lab School in Honolulu, where she was a multi-sport athlete lettering in basketball, volleyball, softball and tennis.

A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.