By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Branden Kawazoe’s basketball journey brings him back home once again, only this time he’s in his first year as Kaiser’s coach.
The 2002 Waiakea graduate has a roster full of Cougars who were on the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state championship football team. Only three out of Kawazoe’s 15 players were not on that historic squad that won the school’s first state title.
In the opening round of the 16-team Keaau-Waiakea preseason tournament, Kaiser plays Kohala at 6 p.m. today at the Warriors Gym. In the following game, Waiakea hosts Honokaa at 7:30 p.m.
If Kaiser and Waiakea win, they would meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the second round of the four-day tourney.
“I’m excited to be back in Waiakea Gym, but in a different role,” Kawazoe said. “To walk back into the gym will bring back a lot of memories. If we get a win and Waiakea wins, we would play them and that would be a lot of fun.
In May, Kawazoe completed Chaminade’s three-year program for his master’s degree in counseling. He was hired as a counselor at Kaiser right around the time of his daughter Addison’s birth on Sept. 16.
If that’s not enough of a whirlwind, before the Kaiser two-job openings, he was a physical education teacher at Assets School, a member of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Kawazoe was also an assistant coach at Iolani for four years.
“It was tough, juggling everything, coaching at Iolani, finishing up my masters, and I ended up getting married in June 2012 to Alison Buccat,” Kawazoe said. “She’s a Kaneohe girl. We both graduated from Pacific University, but didn’t really meet there. We knew of each other.”
More on that love connection a little later.
Kawazoe played four years for Pacific, a Division III school in Forest Grove, Ore., and graduated with a business administration degree in 2006. D-III colleges don’t offer scholarships, but Kawazoe had about a 75 percent package from an academic scholarship and grants.
During a phone interview Tuesday, he flashed a pretty good memory about his first and only homecoming as a Boxer in his junior season against UH-Hilo at Hilo Civic.
“It was 2004 during the winter break,” Kawazoe said. “We were down by one point at halftime and lost by 20.”
The Vulcans led 34-33 at the break, and relied on a monster second half to win 80-57. He got the date right, too. It was Dec. 28, 2004. Kawazoe finished with five points, but went 0 for 7 from the field, but 5 of 8 on free throws.
Met his match
Alison, a 2001 Maryknoll graduate, played soccer for two seasons at Pacific, where she graduated in 2005. Through a friend, they finally found each other in 2008, one year before Alison graduated from dental school at Oregon Science and Health University.
At the time, Kawazoe was in his second year as an assistant at Pacific, and working at a veteran’s hospital in Portland. As fate would have it, Kawazoe was laid off after Alison graduated and they decided to move back to Hawaii in the summer of 2009.
She’s working at Hawaii Family Dental in Pearl City, a marathon away from their rental home in Kalihi. Kawazoe’s drive to work on the other side of the island while battling Hawaii Kai daily traffic is no cakewalk either.
The basketball trip to Hilo has him longing to return to his roots. The Cougars fly in at 9 a.m. today, practice and hit the books for study hall before their game. Lunch is free, provided by Kawazoe Food Service, ono cooking courtesy of his dad Brian and uncle Miles Kawazoe.
“Being in the Department of Education, it gives me the ability to transfer,” Kawazoe said. “I’d love to be back home in Hilo. Ultimately, it’s a family decision. We have to do what’s best for our family. But I really want to get back at some point.”
Well, maybe Kawazoe, known back in the day as a sharp-shooter, can engage his wife in a free-throw shooting contest to decide the family’s future home. Or better yet for his wife, at least, he could challenge Alison in a marathon.
“She’s a runner. I try running with her, but I’m chasing her the whole time,” he said. “I’ve never run a marathon. I can’t do more than a half-marathon. She’s done about four marathons and a ton of half-marathons and 18 milers.”
Life lessons
Last season, the Cougars went 3-8 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White division and fell in the second round of the Division II playoffs. The last time they reached states was 2008, when they — how’s this for coincidence? — beat Kohala for fifth place.
One of the guys on Kawazoe’s team is senior Kahoalii Karratti, the former Konawaena quarterback and Kaiser’s signal-caller. One gridiron player to watch is freshman guard Isaac Slade-Matautia, who started at linebacker.
“He’s just an athlete,” Kawazoe said. “He has a good feel for the game and basketball is not his first sport. He lets the game come to him and he competes.
“We’re big, athletic and physical. We’re trying to grow and get better every day. The thing that surprised me is it’s hard to get them to talk, to say something on offense or defense. Other than that, they’re super respectful and as far as leadership goes we’re working on that.”
But Kawazoe has a bigger goal in mind for his Cougars, who will also play in the prestigious Iolani Classic for the first time in two weeks.
“Coming in we want to teach life lessons through basketball,” he said. “Being part of a team is one of the greatest teachers in life. Our goal is to get the players well-rounded as possible in academics, the community and it’s about building the program. We want them to do something to make us proud and be positive in anything. That could be from going to a community college, or playing at a Division III school or NAIA school. That’s our goal.”
Kawazoe, 29, is the hometown boy done good. He went off to play college ball, highlighted by an academic ride, finally found the girl to his happy-ending love story, and got an impactful job — helping young people as a counselor and coach.
But best of all, his latest homecoming is a chance to bearhug all the important hoops people in his life who helped shape him.
“I think we’ve got a good chance to go to states, but it’ll take a lot of work and it comes back to that foundation,” he said. “That’s why I want to thank all my youth coaches, my high school coach Jay “The Bird” Bartholomew, (the late) Hamilton Manley and Harry Leite-Scanlan, Bill O’Rear and coach Jimmy Yagi. All those guys paved the way for me to be in the position I’m in.
“I’m extremely blessed and thankful. I’ve worked with great coaches and I continue to learn. I still lean on those guys for support and help. I’m super thankful for this opportunity. It’s been a dream of mine to be a head coach at the varsity level.”