The University of Hawaii has begun advertising for an assistant men’s basketball coach to fill the spot left by the sudden departure of Norm Parrish.

Parrish was announced as head coach at tiny Westminster College Thursday in Salt Lake City after spending three months at UH.

Parish was hired May 16 by head coach Eran Ganot and was the most experienced member of the coaching staff with a quarter-century in the college ranks.

“I consider it an honor and privilege to join Westminster College,” Parrish said in a statement on the Westminster website. “I am well aware of their academic and athletic traditions and look forward to leading the men’s basketball program as they transition to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II ranks.”

In a release by UH, Parrish was quoted as saying, “It is with mixed emotions that I have accepted the head coaching position at Westminster College.”

Parrish spent 20 years as head coach at Salt Lake Community College where the was 447-198 and won a national championship. He also had two stints at the University of Utah.

"I’m really happy for Norm on this terrific opportunity to once again run his own program in an area he is very familiar with," Ganot said in a statement distributed by UH. "While it is never easy to lose a member of your team, we couldn’t be happier for Norm and his wonderful family as they embark on this new challenge."

Westminster, which has an enrollment of about 3,000, returns eight players, including three starters from a team that went 11-16 last season and is transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The Griffins’ previous head coach, Adam Hiatt, who was 73-48 in four seasons, abruptly resigned less than a month ago.

The UH job posting lists Sept. 4 as the closing date for applications.