Shoji will decide on whether to return ‘probably by the end of the week’
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji not looking happy during the second set of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in Friday.
MINNEAPOLIS >> The question had to be asked … as it has been for the past few years when the season has ended.
Was it Dave Shoji’s last match as Hawaii’s volleyball coach?
Saturday’s second-round loss at Minnesota was disappointing on many levels for Shoji, who turns 70 today. But it’s been the continued cold treatment by the NCAA selection committee — colder than the minus-4 degrees in Novy Urengoy, Russia, yesterday where Shoji’s two sons play professionally — that has him contemplating about returning for his 43rd season.
“That won’t be the deciding factor, but it’s really disappointing for the team to work so hard and not get rewarded,” Shoji said. “I will take some time off, talk with my family and my team, and make an announcement probably by the end of the week.
“Right now, I’m feeling down about it for the team, the university and the state. We have not been respected by the committee, and that’s a disappointment. I’ve been looking around the country, seeing those (first two rounds) and we could have won a bunch of them.
“I guess it’s all about the money, but then they send us and (USC) here. I don’t know why we had to travel this far. The team deserved better.”
The odds of a non-power five conference team making it to a regional are slim, given how many berths are awarded to the power conferences. Out of the 64 teams, both the Big Ten and Pac-12 had eight teams selected, the Big 12 six, the SEC four and ACC three, which equaled 29 bids. That left 35 bids for the 27 non-power conferences, with only three of those conferences getting multiple teams in: the Missouri Valley and Mountain West with three, the West Coast with two.
Of the 16 seeds, only BYU was from a non-power conference. Of the 16 teams left for this week’s regionals, BYU is joined by only Creighton of the Missouri Valley.
In the current format, the top 16 seeds are awarded hosting duties for the first and second rounds, with the highest remaining seed in each of the four pods hosting the regional. For nearly the past 10 years, the regionals sites were pre-determined.
“I don’t mind playing at home, but I see the the pros and cons to it,” Minnesota coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “I think attendance will be better this year.
“I know that the (selection committee) is a lot smarter than I am, but we had a surprisingly tough pool. There were very good teams here and I feel fortunate to have come out on top.”
Shoji has come out on top 1,202 times and is second only to Penn State’s Russ Rose in Division I women’s victories (1,213). The question is, does Shoji return for more?
Note
Four teams that Hawaii played this season remain alive in the tournament: Wisconsin, Washington, UCLA and Arizona. The only one the Wahine defeated was Arizona.
31 responses to “Shoji will decide on whether to return ‘probably by the end of the week’”
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Hugh McCutcheon’s comment about, “the Selection Committee being smarter then he is”, just tells you how dumb and ignorant he is. The Committee member are only on there to pad their resume. They could care less about volleyball. Hugh would be singing a different tune if his Minnesota team lost last night. They were quite fortunate that Nikki Taylor got hurt. The only way that the Tournament can get even close to being fair is to have the Selection Committee made of Head Coaches. That is 1 Head Coach from the PAC12, B1G, BIG12, SEC, and ACC, plus 5 Head Coaches from Mid Level Schools, with someone like Dave Shoji heading the Committee. That is the only way the selection and placement will be fair. You cannot leave it in the hand of people who know nothing about volleyball.
72/45….Hopefully Dave will be 72yrs old, after coaching 45yrs before he bids farewell to the “Rainbow Wahine Volleyball”…..What a group of players he’ll have next year…
One more? 2017 the last year? Make it official so Matlin can better look at who will be the coach of the hottest destination on the women’s college volleyball tour.
Dave, I really hope you come back. Not only for the girls, but for your own peace of mind. This was not the way to end the career of the greatest woman’s volleyball coach ever. You did a lot more with a lot less AND against the idiots on the selection committee. It should be made up of ex Hall of Fame coaches and coaches of schools who were not selected. Please stay and show these idiots Hawaii will win in spite of them!
The “idiots” on the selection committee have selected Hawaii to be in post season how many years in a row now?
He usually received the automatic berth by winning the league. The selection committee had nothing to do with it.
I think Dave needs to retire on a high note and not wait for more failure to damage his legacy.
Amen!
Hope Nikki’s ankle injury isn’t too serious. Na Wahine without her played their hearts out. Hate to think of Wahine volleyball without Dave. Any word on incoming recruits at outside and opposite? If promising, I’d like to see Dave make at least one more run before seriously considering retirement. Mahalo to the players and coaching staff for an inspiring season. Mahalo especially to the seniors for their unforgettable run. Godspeed and aloha!
If the recruiting class is promising, it’s the best time for him to go, leaving a promising crew for the new coach to inherit and run with.
One solution, is for UH to get into a Power five conference or get into a higher level mid major conference. Wake up, soon the power conferences will merge with MWC, WCC, Big East and the rest of the lower conferences will dissapear. UH already are scheduling building newer facilities which helps attract. Matlin has to sell UH as the far reaching arm of both Polynesia and Asia. UH does have major ties to those markets, more than most schools. If UH stays in the Big West, then make it a priority to get the rest of the Big West to beef their resources and beef up their programs.
Maybe we can get some 6’7″ girls from Australia.
I wonder which dictionary has “pipe dream” as having the same definition as “solution”?
Good Luck Dave in whatever your decision is. Wahine fought hard but my eyes saw a truly dominate team in Minnesota over us. All their hitters looked on the level of Nikki and Annie when the made their kills. Would we have gotten farther if we were at another regional? Perhaps but I don’t think we would have contended for the title and isn’t that our hope every year? It was pretty clear that Minnesota was more talented and even with Nikki, I do believe the results would have been the same, Sorry but just what I saw.
Great season Wahine!
The hypocrisy of the NCAA.
Before the power rating and when the majority of teams that became NCAA champions were from the west coast.
From 2006 and on the NCAA has done their job quietly by having the last 8 out of 10 women’s volleyball champions from the Big 10. Nebraska who was part of the Big 8 and now the Big 10.
From 1981 to 2005 (25 years) only 4 teams who became champions who were not from the west coast or Hawaii.
Remember the times when money was an issue so their excuse were to have most of the teams play in their geographical area, thus allowing teams from east of the Rocky Mountains more opportunities to get to the final four. Some of the justifications was to expand the interest of volleyball nationally.
As these teams from east of the Rockies started getting better especially the Big-10 and the Big-12 the RPI has become an integral part of how teams got in and placed in post season. (Not sure when the RPI became an integral part) Thus going against the idea of expanding interest in all conferences especially those with low RPI ratings. No plan by the NCAA to reverse the inequality of having opportunities distributed equally.
They succeeded with the RPI to keep smaller conference school’s out of the picture with 1 or 2 schools making the post season and allow these power conference schools to have 6 to 8 of their teams make it. What happened to their goal of creating more interest and opportunities equally.
It is now a lopsided venue which gives the BIG-10 conference the inside track to being champions. Money is not an issue due to the fact the amount of money comes into the big 5 conferences from their football and basketball contracts. Not making money in women’s volleyball is a non issue as long as one of the big 5 conferences become the champions. Their ego to dominate every type of sport is what drives the bigger school members who wags the tail of the NCAA.
I didn’t realize that seeding was the major factor of winning a championship.
It is if they all have to come to Hawaii.
If it is not have all the top 32 teams play each other and the bottom 33 teams play each other. You will find it does make a difference. Big what if, Hawaii being the 33rd seeded team. Of the top 32 I guarantee that the top 4 seeds all will not make it to the semi-finals.
Hawaii can play on the west coast as the 33rd seeded team. Good chance they might end up in the championship game. Thus is seeding is not an issue why have it in the first place. Let conference champions with the luck of the draw determine what other conference champion they will play. Also the luck of the draw is who has the home court advantage.
I rest my case and if you really did not know seeding was a major factor you are another one that must be lala land. Oxtail is in the soup pot clouded by the debris.
What you’re resting on is something very different from a good “case”. Chance of Hawaii ending up in a championship game was rather slim. Last time they were in one was 1997, last time they won one was 1987. Last time they made final four was 2009 and prior to that 2003. As for seeding, it really didn’t help Hawaii or hurt Hawaii much in all the recent years. If I recall correctly, last time Hawaii hosted, they got blown out in embarrassing fashion (by unranked BYU I think).
According to a pollster on Cindy’s blog. Mike Sealy told him, the Wahine Head Coach position is his Dream Job. You people can take it for whatever it is. I can just hope what he said is true. Mike Sealy would be my 1st choice to become the next Head Coach of the Wahine, only time will tell.
I also would like to see Mike as the new HC. He has the experience and probably have ties with some Calif clubs that he can recruit from together with Hawaii. They only thing is that does he like it enough to maybe take a cut in pay.
Mahalo skias3779 for this info. Yes, definitely, IF Dave is retiring and IF Sealy’s interested, he’s the best choice! I hope it’s true.
I agree Mike would be a great get. From what I saw on salaries before, Mike’s salary didn’t seem too much beyond what the Master is getting. With a little help from the private donors (which wouldn’t be out of the question and quite doable), and if Mike really wants to come here, it’ll probably happen.
Hey thanks and all that Dave, but time to go, let other coaches have a chance
In all likelihood Coach is waiting for someone else to give him an answer, probably a job opportunity. Make no mistake he knows that next season will be brutal, possibly with double digit losses. The writing is already on the wall.
[No terminators, same poor passing, same tips dropping, no left side, no firepower. The same slow high sets being blocked. Forget the Conference title and the NCAA tournament, just avoiding a losing record will be an achievement.]
Winning record is all but guaranteed with all the weak teams in the conference. Just the returning players are better than most others on the other conference teams. Let’s not go overboard with the “sky is falling” scenario. But I do agree next year will be a challenging year unless the new recruits are really good.
Need to come back to show the Selection committee the error of its way and also to retire on a high note. The only important sport with several national Championships under his belt; we need him not only as a coach but a mentor and example for the other coaches.
Guess the error of their way is dependent on how high a note the Master can hit? If we’re waiting for the high note, maybe he should have retired last year because hitting tat high note is going to get harder, not easier. How high a note does it have to be to satisfy your retirement criteria? Finally, if other coaches didn’t get enough mentoring from his 42 years of coaching, they’re pretty much hopeless as coaches, aren’t they, like Chow and your favorite, Fib?
There’s a thin line between love and hate.
Shoji can decide when to retire, it’s up to him. He deserves that much respect.
Read the headline “..Shoji will decide….”. No one is saying otherwise, many are just voicing opinion that he should.