UH-Hilo basketball coach Aiona inducted into his alma mater’s hall of fame

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – UH-Hilo head men’s basketball coach Kaniela Aiona was inducted into the hall of fame of his alma mater, Webster University, two weeks ago.

Aiona was one of four people named in the 2023 Hall of Fame Class, which was released in July — alongside former basketball and volleyball player Jaclyn Taylor Fearheiley, soccer player Ally Niklaus and baseball player Bryan Bernat.

“I am honored to join the Webster University Athletics Hall of Fame,” Aiona said in a UH-Hilo press release. “I had the greatest teammates and coaches during my time at Webster, and I’m proud to be considered in the same class as the other great athletes who have come through Webster.”

Aiona was raised in Waimea and graduated from Honoka‘a High in 2001. During his senior year, he helped lead the Dragons to a third-place finish at the HHSAA state championship.

He continued on to Webster — a NCAA Division III school in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) — where he played four seasons on the Gorloks’ men’s basketball team. Aiona was recruited to play at Webster by David Kaneshiro — who was the Webster men’s coach at the time, but is now in his 14th season as UH-Hilo’s head women’s basketball coach.

“Coach Dave was one of the first people I told when I got the call,” Aiona said in the UH-Hilo release. “In my induction speech, he’s the first coach I mentioned because he’s the one who gave me the opportunity and recruited me — without a visit, sight unseen and he took a chance. I’ll always appreciate Coach for that.

“Basketball has taken me all over the world, but it is great to be back home working alongside Coach Dave and paying it forward to the next generation.”

Aiona made 51 starts in 84 appearances for the Gorlocks — averaging 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and also notching a career total of 71 blocked shots to average 0.8 per game, putting him at No. 8 on Webster’s all-time leaderboard for both career blocked shots and career average.

He also ranks No. 16 for all-time total rebounds with 387, is tied for No. 17 in career offensive rebounds at 129, is No.19 in field goals made at 336 and ranks No. 20 in both total points (852) and defensive rebounds (258).

During Aiona’s time at Webster, the Gorlocks won SLIAC Regular Season titles in ‘02 and ‘05, went 58-45 overall and 40-16 in the SLIAC and also made an appearance in the 2001-02 DIII National Tournament.

He earned All-SLIAC honors in his final two seasons with the Gorloks and was twice named to the SLIAC Winter All-Academic Team, also receiving the Webster Athletics President Award during his senior year.

Ainoa graduated with a Bachelors in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Webster in 2005, and immediately joined the Gorlocks as an assistant coach for the 2005-06 season.

He continued his assistant coaching career at Central Methodist (2006-08), Lake Forest College (2008-10), Benedictine University (2011-13) and Saint Leo University (2013-15).

Aiona became the head coach of the Menlo College men’s basketball team in 2015, and helped transform the Oaks from a 3-23 team to a winning program.

He was hired as the Vulcan’s head men’s coach in 2019 — and now, in his fourth season, he will lead UH-Hilo to its third straight Pacific West Conference playoff appearance.

Webster held its induction ceremony on Feb. 17. Aiona was unable to attend due to his coaching responsibilities in Hilo. His former coaches — Mike Siener and Chris Bunch, who have coached at Webster for more than 20 years — accepted the award in his honor.