Mike Brown, who was a University of Hawaii assistant baseball coach the past three seasons, is joining Utah as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

“I’m really excited,” said Brown, who was not expected to be retained after Rich Hill was hired as UH’s head coach last week. “Me and coach (Gary) Henderson go way back. He recruited me out of junior college (to Kentucky) in 2005. We know each other’s families. We’re really stoked. Good situation.”

Brown joined the Rainbow Warriors as hitting instructor in July 2018 after two seasons as an assistant coach at Mississippi State. In 2021, the ’Bows had the most RBIs (237) and highest batting average (.281) in 10 years of Big West membership. After Mike Trapasso was not renewed for a 21st season, Brown was named as the interim head coach on June 1.

“I hate to leave the islands,” Brown said. “I loved it. To me, the island is so fun and so unique. No matter what schools I go to work at, none of them will be like Hawaii. All we’ve got is Hawaii here, and in a good way. You compete against yourself, in a sense, in terms of fan loyalty. Even if you’re a fan of Stanford or Berkeley, you’re still rooting for UH if you’re from Hawaii, which I think is so unique.”

Brown said Henderson, who was promoted after Bill Kinneberg retired this year, also will serve as pitching coach.

Brown will assist Todd Guilliams, who has left Kentucky to serve as the Utes’ hitting coach, and focus extensively on recruiting.

“I think the staff will be fun because everyone will be all engaged and kind of be all hands on deck,” Brown said. “I’m pumped to to get into the Pac-12 and get things going.”