UH basketball to be investigated

The NCAA will conduct an in-person investigation of the University of Hawaii men's basketball program by the end of the month, multiple sources told the Ho­no­lulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday.

The circumstances of the school's apparent suspension of assistant coach Brandyn Akana is the basis for the forthcoming investigation. Sources with knowledge of the situation indicated that an NCAA representative will personally go through rec­ords at the Manoa campus.

UH coach Gib Arnold gave the Star-Advertiser the following statement:

"I wish I could talk. Believe me I'd scream as loud as I could in support of my guy. But there is a process with such matters and we are following the process. I am confident when all is said and done and the correct information is shared Brandyn will be just fine and will be able to continue being the great Assistant he is."

UH athletic director Ben Jay could not comment and has said since this matter first surfaced Feb. 6 that it was a personnel issue. The school has not officially acknowledged its self-imposed suspension of Akana, but sources said the suspension was over with the completion of the 2013-14 season, although he is not currently allowed to recruit.

His absence for the final third of the season was said to stem from an inquiry into an "addition" to a document said to have been sent to UH concerning a recent recruit. Missouri transfer Stefan Jan­ko­vic was the only player UH officially added in the spring semester.

finally Phil Jackson

has come back to New York.

NEW YORK » Phil Jackson, who won 11 NBA championships as a coach and is one of the league's most admired figures, has agreed to return to the New York Knicks to head the team's front office.

The Knicks are scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday to announce his appointment as the team's new president, according to a person in the NBA familiar with the discussions. A Knicks spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jackson, 68, who was a part of the Knicks' championship era as a player in the early 1970s, has unrivaled credentials as a coach: six titles with the Chicago Bulls and five more with the Los Angeles Lakers. He has the highest winning percentage for a coach in league history (.705), along with the most playoff victories (229). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

But he has never held a position in a front office, let alone run one, and his first project is a doozy: resuscitate the Knicks after years of mismanagement.

Despite having the league's second-highest payroll, the Knicks have labored to a 26-40 record ahead of Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden. Though their current five-game winning streak has kept them in contention for a playoff spot, the Knicks are still in danger of missing out on the postseason for the seventh time in the last 10 years.

*** 4/21/14

New York Knickerbockers President Phil Jackson announced today that the team's coaching staff have been relieved of their duties, effective immediately.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Woodson and his entire staff," Jackson said. "The coaches and players on this team had an extremely difficult 2013-14 season, and blame should not be put on one individual. But the time has come for change throughout the franchise as we start the journey to assess and build this team for next season and beyond.

"Everyone in this franchise owes a great deal of gratitude to what Mike and his staff have done. We wish him the best."

In parts of three seasons with the Knicks, Woodson compiled an overall record of 109-79 (.580) that included two consecutive NBA Playoff appearances and an Atlantic Division title -- the team's first in 19 years. On Mar. 19, 2014, he became just the seventh coach in franchise history to reach the century mark in victories. Initially named Knicks interim head coach with 24 games remaining in the 2011-12 season, Woodson completed his ninth season at the helm of an NBA franchise, posting a record of 315-365.

The search for a new coaching staff will begin immediately.

Reggie Torres out as Kahuku coach

Lee Leslie, who was a graduate assistant on Ron McBride's staff in Utah, said he accepted the job as head football coach at Kahuku on Thursday.

Leslie replaces Reggie Torres, whose teams won two of the past three state titles and three overall since he took the job in 2006. Torres is second only to his predecessor, Siuaki Livai, in state titles among OIA coaches.

The change comes as part of principal Pauline Masaniai's review of the athletic department. She took over Dec. 24 and invited every coach of a fall sport to re-apply for their positions.

The school will hold interviews for girls volleyball coach Tehani Fiatoa's position next week. Fiatoa said on Thursday that she would not reapply. Boys basketball coach Darren Johnson, who also serves as Torres' offensive coordinator, said he didn't intend to apply when interviews start for that position.

Leslie, 53, was the head coach at Kuna (Idaho) High, and has 17 championships to his credit. He has also coached in Arena Football 2. His most recent title was at Bishop Kelly in Idaho in 2010, when his team went undefeated. He has molded four different prep football programs into powerhouses.

"It sounds like a challenge and I am excited," Leslie said. "I know there is a lot of passion and talent there. My teams are used to going up against Kahuku from the Hillcrest Camp, when we would get into fights in the daytime and get together for dinner afterwards."

Leslie, a motivational speaker who describes himself as an "ex-quarterback," said he likes to throw the ball, but that talent will dictate his scheme on offense. He will work at the school, but the capacity has not been determined. He thinks it will involve getting students qualified for college, whether working on ACT and SAT prep or some other role.

"I am always overly prepared," Leslie said. "Whenever a college recruiter comes around I have an entire folder (of a kids' accomplishments) ready for them. College is the main goal."

Leslie plans to visit the North Shore for the first time next week, and start as soon as he can get things settled with his family back in Idaho. He has a wife, three children and three grandchildren.

Leslie was at Kuna for just one year but improved that program from 2-16 the previous two years to 7-3. He landed at Kuna after AF2's Boise Burn suspended operations while he was the head coach.

As for Torres, he still had not been notified of the school's decision on Thursday night. With an opening at Moanalua, he could easily land on his feet, but he is reluctant to leave his alma mater, where he has won 11 total state titles — six in wrestling, three in football and two in judo.

"The Moanalua job looks real attractive to me, with the principal and AD and coaches there," Torres said. "The only thing that holds me back is that I am a Red Raider and can't leave these kids. Maybe in four or five years after this crop graduates I will look for something else."

***

They finally got him.

All those people who never wanted this good, humble man running their program — a person who also happened to be a winner — can be happy now.

Reggie Torres is no longer the head football coach at Kahuku High School.

And the prep sports scene in Hawaii is the worse for it. The Red Raiders don't just lose a fine coach, we all lose the lasting impact of a leader who develops character and discipline in youth.

It's not that Torres didn't bring home the hardware, either.

But I guess three state championships in eight years isn't enough. Or Torres hasn't done enough lately; the Red Raiders finished 6-5 overall and 5-1 in conference in a rebuilding 2013 season.

Last I checked, those are still winning records.

As we've seen, standards are often ridiculous in sports. But it's one thing when coaches of professional and college teams are unceremoniously dumped after one season that didn't result in a championship. When it happens in the high school ranks for no apparent reason to a good coach and better person, practically on the heels of consecutive state titles? That's just sad.

Stephen Curry vs. Marc Jackson?

the current Golden State Warriors coach was paired up with Stephen Curry – well on his way toward becoming one of the greatest shooters in NBA history with his career 44 percent mark from long range – in a shooting contest? It doesn’t seem fair, especially for a pass-first guard like Jackson that hasn’t played an NBA game in a decade.

And yet, after a spirited Warriors practice in Indianapolis on Monday, the old man went to work:

[3/27/15] Stephen Curry's pre-game routine

The Tennis Chain-Saw Miracle

Tennis is the sport of a lifetime — or so the saying goes. How many sports have an 80-and-over division? But in 1994, just a year out of college, I was told that I would never play again. Doctors agreed that the two herniated disks in my lower back were so severe that playing any sport that involved running would only increase the intense pain I was experiencing. So, at 23, tennis disappeared from my life, apparently for good. I had no idea that, nine years and one morphine-induced epiphany later, it would return. With a vengeance.

-- by Marc Howard, Tennis.com Magazine, January/February 2007

Oceanic locks in UH TV contract

Pay-per-view football figures to remain a staple of University of Hawaii sports through the 2019 season under an extension of the school's TV rights agreement with Oceanic Time Warner Cable announced Friday.

Rival KHNL/KFVE would have ended pay-per-view and aired away football games free of charge had it been awarded the contract, general manager Rick Blan­giardi said Friday.

The six-year extension with Oceanic calls for UH to receive a minimum payment of $2.3 million this year, escalating to $2,539,386 at the contract's conclusion June 30, 2020, as long as at least seven football games are made available to Oceanic each year, according to the agreement. UH can earn a higher fee if specified net revenue targets are reached.

UH had been receiving a minimum $2.3 million per year for live TV and PPV rights and received as much as $2.6 million in 2008. Oceanic is mandated to broadcast at least 60 events a year, the same threshold as in previous contracts.

KHNL/KGMB, which has a "shared services agreement" with KFVE, had sought an opportunity to make a proposal. "We are extremely disappointed and saddened to hear this news as Hawaii News Now and KFVE would have been proud and honored to have submitted an alternative proposal for the University of Hawaii to consider," Blan­giardi said in a statement.

"We believe we could have provided a meaningful alternative to Oceanic Cable, which unfortunately only reaches paid subscribers, as opposed to the entire state," Blan­giardi said. "We were prepared to make the University of Hawaii an unprecedented bid for the broadcast rights, and were looking forward to the elimination of the pay-per-view concept and providing all of UH sports, including both home and away games, free of additional charges to the people of Hawaii."

*** [3/6/14]

HNN didn't show them the money

*** [3/8/14]

Blangiardi says UH cost themselves millions