It’s simple, really.
If Parker School could have fielded a BIIF boys basketball team this season, Greg Dunigan would be the coach, just like he has been in the past. The Bulls’ athletic director pitched in during the fall when the girls volleyball team needed a coach, and he may do so again if the school competes in boys volleyball in the spring.
But when a handful of Parker students opted for soccer over basketball this season, Dunigan, a veteran of the hardwood, had time on his hands. Meanwhile, there was an opening for a girls high school coach just down the road in Waimea.
So, the discussions began: Could the AD at Parker coach a team at Hawaii Prep?
In the end, practicality won out over any perceived awkwardness, and Dunigan is set to make his HPA debut today when Ka Makani welcome Ka’u (0-2) for a 5 p.m. tip.
“I sat down and talked with my headmaster for a long time,” Dunigan said. “He was a little hesitant, but he came to the conclusion he was going to allow me to do it.”
A Hawaii Department of Education rule prohibits athletic directors from coaching programs at their own school – much less others – except in certain cases, but the two private schools in the tight-nit North Hawaii community found a fit. Dunigan said he had no reservations, especially after talking the matter over with HPA AD Stephen Perry and head of school Fred Wawner.
“Coaching is in my blood,” said Dunigan, who’s done so for more than 35 years, the bulk of that time coming in Missouri.
He admits he’s never encountered a similar arrangement to the one he’s entering, but said, “I have a lot of friends who teach at one school in Missouri, yet they coach in another district.”
Under Dunigan, Parker last competed in boys basketball in 2020. The Bulls aren’t known for fielding girls basketball teams. One of the strongest programs at the school is paddling, also a winter sport.
Dunigan inherits an experienced squad seeking its third consecutive trip to the HHSAA Division II tournament, though he said give these Ka Makani some time to come together. The roster lists 13 players, but only seven or eight have been at practices recently as many left the island during winter break. HPA’s second game is Jan. 8 against Honokaa.
“We have about eight kids that once we get them all together, I think they are going to be real steady,” Dunigan said.
HPA made a surprise run to the BIIF title in 2019, and three starters on that team are still around in seniors Kyana Brucelas, a 5-foot-8 forward, Maja Burdova, a 5-6 guard, and Brenna Kiyota, a 5-2 guard.
Brucelas was the BIIF player of the year as a freshman before transferring to Lahainaluna for her sophomore campaign. Brucelas came back to HPA last year, but she was injured during a shortened season in which Ka Makani played private schools and club teams. One of the bright spots of the five-game slate earlier this year was freshman Brooke Samura, who scored in double figures five times as HPA went 4-1.
Dunigan can see Samura playing point guard and off the ball as a 10th-grader.
“We haven’t had a chance to get out there and do some of the things we want in practice because of low numbers, but (Brooke) is very talented,” Dunigan said.
Burdova igures to one of the better shooters in D-II.
Kiyota had to work her way back from an ACL tear but plays good defense, Dunigan said, and the roster is littered with “knowledgeable players,” such as junior Ali Wawner, a 5-8 guard, and senior Kaila Kaahu, a 5-1 guard. Tiffany Bento, a 5-8 senior forward, gives HPA an inside presence. Kaahu is in her first year at the school after previously playing at Kahuku on Oahu.
“We want to push it,” Dunigan said. “I don’t know if we’re going to do that (today) because we’re shorthanded, but we want to push it on offense, and on defense we’re going to mostly play man to man.
“We’re going to try to extend our man-to-man when everybody gets here. This first week or two, we’re just trying to do the basics in the half court.”