The celebration of the end of a three-game losing streak with Saturday’s 63-57 victory over UC Riverside was short-lived for the Rainbow Wahine basketball team.

“We were struggling terribly and it was a good win, but, then, I had to break the news to my team that Darron (Larsen, a much-admired assistant coach) wasn’t coming back,” head coach Laura Beeman said Monday.

Larsen, a native of New Zealand, lost his final immigration appeal and must leave the U.S. by Feb. 8, Beeman said. “The players were in tears. Our family is being ripped apart and he is being made to go home.”

The circumstances brought on by the tightening employment restrictions by the Trump administration have raised concern elsewhere in the athletic department as well since UH had six assistant coaches from foreign countries this school year.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think Darron is going to be the last one,” Beeman said. “It is going to be a resounding theme across the country.”

Ryan Dubbeldam, the video coordinator who now fills Larsen’s coaching role, also is a New Zealand native.

“He (Larsen) definitely made a huge impact in a short amount of time,” senior guard Sarah Toeaina said. “His knowledge of the game is really impressive; how he sees the little things, especially on offense. He’s kind of like our offensive guru.”

Larsen received a three-year visa to coach at Pepperdine, but when the Waves’ head coach was fired two years in, Beeman quickly asked Larsen to join the Rainbow Wahine.

UH applied for a transfer of employment last summer when Larsen was hired and expected it to be a routine matter since he still had a year left on the visa, Beeman said. But the transfer was turned down around Thanksgiving.

At the time Beeman told the UH Board of Regents if she could have one wish it would be for Larsen to be able to remain.

UH then hired outside counsel to handle the appeal. “We’ve been going through the appeals process praying for the best, knowing New Zealand is a country that’s very friendly, obviously,” Beeman said. “It is not on any kind of watch, so we were pretty optimistic.”

Then came the denial, “And now Coach Larsen and his wife have to leave,” Beeman said. “You go from a full staff to not a full staff. As an adult and as a coaching staff, we struggled with (that). You can’t imagine what it did to these kids.”

Athletic director David Matlin said in a statement, “Darren was a big asset to our Wahine basketball program. The department will miss him very much. We will respect the decision and move forward.”

Beeman said, “The real life part of this is we have a man and his wife here not making any money.”

Toeaina said the players have taken to taping a “D” on the bench where Larsen sat. “We feel like he will always be with us,” Toeaina said.