LIHU‘E — Basketball coach Jimmy Yagi and Bill O’Rear, former NAIA All-American player and current sports editor for the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald, hosted a group of aspiring basketball players Saturday at the Kaua‘i High School gym. “Where is the big ‘20’
LIHU‘E — Basketball coach Jimmy Yagi and Bill O’Rear, former NAIA All-American player and current sports editor for the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald, hosted a group of aspiring basketball players Saturday at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
“Where is the big ‘20’ banner?” Yagi said as he walked into the Raiderdome where fourth- through eighth-grade students were busy warming up with free court play in anticipation of the coaches’ arrival. “This is the 20th year we’ve come to help the students with the game of basketball.”
Aaron Uyeda of the county’s Department of Park and Recreation, said Yagi has more than 70 years of basketball experience and continues to be active in the sport.
The clinic comes on the eve of the county, in conjunction with the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association, inaugurating its winter youth basketball league. League play starts at 6 p.m. today when four girls’ teams take the floor at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Some of the community basketball coaches noted there would have been more players at the clinic, but there was a basketball tournament taking place at the same time and the kids were participating in that play.
Yagi, the former head basketball coach for the Vulcans of the University of Hawai‘i-Hilo, was responsible for getting Hilo on the map when one of his teams reached the NAIA finals, states a county release. He was inducted into the UH-Hilo’s Vulcan Hall of Honor following his retirement.
O’Rear, a point guard under Yagi’s tenure, earned the NAIA All-American honor and continues to work with Yagi. “He’ll always be Jimmy Yagi’s point guard,” Uyeda said. “Once you learn the basics, it’ll be with you forever.”
Yagi was on hand Friday night during the Kaua‘i High School girls basketball game with Kapa‘a, watching as Kristle Henry, one of the former Yagi clinic students, ignited the crowd with a buzzer-beating half-court bomb at the end of the first quarter, with his wife capturing the moment while trying out her iPad video capabilities, O’Rear said.
Henry was joined by members of the Red Raider boys basketball team Saturday to help the community coaches and Yagi conduct the clinic.
“We’re really appreciative to Hawaiian Airlines and Louie Abrams for helping us do this for the young players,” Uyeda said. “Hawaiian Air has helped us with airfare for the Hilo group, and Louie always finds them a place to stay.”
