Jimmy Yagi, beloved former UH-Hilo basketball coach, dies at 88

Jimmy Yagi, beloved former University of Hawaii at Hilo basketball coach and the grandfather of a small college basketball dynasty, died today of natural causes at Hilo Medical Center.

He was 88.

Yagi died peacefully with his wife, Jeanne, and sons Brady and Kirby at his side.

“He’s the nicest person I ever met,” said Bill O’Rear, retired Tribune-Herald sports editor, who came to Hilo in 1976 from Santa Rosa Junior College in Northern California to play basketball for the Vulcans on Yagi’s first team that competed at an intercollegiate level.

“He was selfless. He just really enjoyed working and helping people during his lifetime,” O’Rear said.

Yagi and Ramon Goya, then the UH-Hilo athletic director, were the architects that moved the hometown college program from a club-level team that played against junior colleges, Amateur Athletic Union clubs and the military, to competing in the the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The move was successful, as the Vulcans went 23-3 in 1976 and beat NCAA Division I Nebraska and New Mexico — the latter featuring former Los Angeles Lakers star Michael Cooper. In 1977, the Vulcans went to 27-5.

In both seasons, UH-Hilo won District 2 championships and made it to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

“He was really positive with the players, and he allowed you to play,” O’Rear said. “He wasn’t a yeller and a screamer like some people, and he allowed you to relax. I think that paid off a lot of times in close games.

“When you looked at him, he was always calm. And that made you feel like everything is OK.”

Yagi is still the winningest coach in UH-Hilo’s history, with a 218-87 record in 12 NAIA seasons.

Services are pending.

See Thursday’s edition of the Tribune-Herald for more.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.