The road back to Saint Louis is the one Dan Hale has taken.

The longtime boys basketball coach has circled back to Kalaepohaku. School president Glenn Medeiros welcomed Hale back as a new co-athletic director, returning as head coach of the program he guided to two consecutive Division I state championships. Three months ago, Hale decided to leave Saint Louis for a job at Punahou, his alma mater.

“It is surreal. I think for me the opportunity to come back to be a full athletic director and also be able to coach, that was very, very appealing,” Hale said. “It was hard enough to leave coaching and move on. In the end, my heart was back here being able to do that with a full AD job as a possibility, and coming through, that was great.”

Medeiros has navigated through some choppy waters as school president. The school’s debt has been drastically reduced.

“It’s been a group effort by our board. Everybody working together to make it happen,” he said.

Seeing his basketball coach return is one more plus. A clear victory.

“I’m really happy for the kids that we have him,” he said.

Gerald Welch, former All-State football player and longtime teacher, is the school’s other co-athletic director.

“We needed one more athletic director, so we put that out there and we interviewed a bunch of people,” Medeiros said. “Dan was one of the people who applied. He said he really missed the kids. This very much appealed to him. He interviewed like all the others and was the best qualified. Some people say it might have been planned, but we had a first-year athletic director and Saint Louis has a very big athletic program. I’m glad that Dan applied for the position.”

Medeiros also noted that Mark Revuelto is now associate head coach. The longtime assistant had been promoted to interim head coach when Hale departed.

“I’m really happy that we have Mark. He’s a great coach, too,” Medeiros said. “In our communication with our parents while Mark was interim head coach, I have every confidence he would’ve done a great job. I do feel for coach Mark. He’s a graduate of the school and has done a lot for Saint Louis basketball coming back into prominence. That’s why I wanted to elevate him to interim head coach. Coach Dan highly recommended him. If the interim tag had been off, I don’t think we would’ve made a change. Mark represents the future of the program. I see great things for him ahead.”

In August, Hale opted to leave his day job as a counselor at Saint Louis to work at his alma mater, overseeing athletic facilities at Punahou. He officially started at Punahou on Sept. 11. He cited long hours, from early morning to late night, the toll on his aching knees, which need replacements. After a short stint at Punahou, he jumped at the chance to apply for the new position at Saint Louis.

“When Dan came back, I told him I would have no problem with you being just a co-AD, but he said he would really, really like to coach again. He was very emotional about it, actually. It was touching,” Medeiros said.

“People can make assumptions, but sometimes people make decisions and find it wasn’t the best decision.”

The emotional turbulence of losing a coach, then seeing him return, is something that young basketball players may not expect. Medeiros, a former teacher, expects more of the same excellence from the team.

“We always try to do what is best for the kids. I think students will understand that sometimes people make mistakes. Students are resilient. They are smarter than we think,” Medeiros said. “They will focus on the fact that he did come back and he wants to be with them.”

Most of the team went to Japan with Revuelto recently on a goodwill trip. Nine players made the voyage. The team’s four football players didn’t go.

“They had a life-changing experience. They’re closer than ever, the hanging out and bonding for hours at a time,” Revuelto said.

Campbell’s boys and girls teams were on the same trip.

“They also got close with the Campbell kids. They hung out in the (Fukuoka College) dorms. They’re all close now,” Revuelto said. “Me and (Campbell) Coach Wyatt (Tau) talked story for hours.”

Saint Louis (1-0) is ranked No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Boys Basketball Top 10. The Crusaders will battle University on Thursday at the Surfriders Holiday Classic in Kailua. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m.