HONOLULU — University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball head coach Bob Nash announced his coaching staff, Friday, with the hiring of two assistant coaches. Joining Nash are longtime associate coach Jackson Wheeler, who was retained from previous head coach Riley Wallace’s
HONOLULU — University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball head coach Bob Nash announced his coaching staff, Friday, with the hiring of two assistant coaches. Joining Nash are longtime associate coach Jackson Wheeler, who was retained from previous head coach Riley Wallace’s staff, and new assistants Larry Farmer and Eran Ganot.
“We’ve assembled a diverse coaching staff that addresses all of our needs, recruiting, a seasoned bench coach, and a young technology and computer savvy coach,” Nash said in a release. “I truly believe this staff has the right mix and the same vision to continue the winning tradition that coach Wallace helped to build.”
Wheeler, 47, first joined the Rainbow Warrior program in 1990 under Wallace. Now entering his 18th year, Wheeler has established himself as one of the top recruiters in the West Coast and UH’s recruiting classes have earned numerous national rankings. Although every member of the staff will help in recruiting and player evaluation, Wheeler will serve as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
“I’m really excited to be able to start this new chapter with coach Nash,” Wheeler said. “I’m grateful to coach Nash for giving me the opportunity to continue at this university and a program that I love and am proud to be a part of. I’m looking forward to even more success for Rainbow Warrior basketball and have no doubt that under coach Nash’s leadership, it will happen.”
Farmer, 56, was a former Division I head coach at his alma mater UCLA (1981-84), Weber State (1985-88) and Loyola-Chicago (1998-2003), where he compiled a 166-179 combined record in 12 seasons. Most recently he served as a color commentator on ESPN and Fox Sports telecasts, which included UH and Western Athletic Conference games, and CBS Radio for the NCAA Tournament.
At UCLA, Farmer guided his alma mater to a three-year record of 61-23, including a pair of 20-win seasons, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. During the 1982-83 season, he coached the Bruins to a 23-6 mark, Pac-10 championship, and No. 7 final national ranking.
Following UCLA, Farmer headed Weber State’s program for three years, where he compiled a 34-54 record from 1985-88. After several coaching stints, including a six-year term with the Kuwait National Team, Farmer was hired as head coach of Loyola-Chicago in 1998. Ganot served as the team’s director of operations last year and was responsible for numerous duties including coordinating team travel, working with the scout team, assisting with recruiting, scheduling, and film exchange, and supervising the team manager.
Prior to UH, the 25-year-old spent three years at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., where he served as an administrative assistant and was responsible for academics, scheduling, and recruiting. Ganot earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology/anthropology at Pennsylvania’s Swarthmore College in 2003.
Nash succeeded Wallace, who retired after 20 years following the 2006-07 season. Nash has been associated with the program for 28 years since his playing days at UH, in which he was a member of the school’s famed “Fabulous Five,” teams of the early 1970s. He joined then-head coach Larry Little’s staff as a graduate assistant in 1981 and was hired as a full-time assistant in 1984.
Nash previously served under Little’s, Frank Arnold’s, and Wallace’s staffs before being named the program’s 18th head coach on April 13.
