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Mid-Pacific has its man to lead boys' hoops program


For the second time in as many seasons, Mid-Pacific Institute has a new man at the forefront of its boys basketball programs.

In a press release sent out to the media Sunday night, MPI announced that former Iolani and Chaminade player Ryan Hirata had accepted the varsity boys basketball job.

"The entire search committee was extremely impressed with Ryan, and we know that he is the right person for the job," Owls' athletic director Scott Wagner said in the release. "There were a significant number of very qualified applicants for the position, and many of them would have done a great job. Fortunately for Mid-Pacific, Ryan is all we were hoping for and more."

Hirata, 27, most recently served as an assistant at his alma mater. This past season, Hirata helped Iolani win its 10th state championship in school history. He was a player on two state championship teams in the early 2000's and went on to play at Chaminade. This is Hirata's first job as a varsity head coach. He was the head coach of one of Iolani's intermediate programs for several years and also coached at the junior varsity level. Hirata will oversee MPI's varsity, JV, intermediate and Catholic School league teams.

"It's going to be a different experience definitely because obviously you're in charge of not just one program, but about 45-50 kids that are looking up to you," Hirata said. "It's a big step, but it's an exciting step. Being on this past year's Iolani team taught me a lot about organization and the preparation that is needed to run a varsity squad. Everything from scheduling preseason games to being well prepared for the regular season with scouting reports and just making sure we best use our time in practice."

The opportunity at MPI was one that was too good to pass up, Hirata said.

"I saw the potential in a bunch of those kids during the season when we played them," Hirata said. "They have a bunch of kids that definitely can compete in the ILH, but more than that, I saw the fact that the MPI administration, 'ohana and alumni did things the right way. They're very supportive of their student-athletes, making sure that they have their best interests in their kids and that's a culture that I wanted to be a part of."

The Owls went 1-10 last season and finished last in the ILH's Division I standings under first-year coach Dwight Holliday. Hirata will not have the services of Kyle Husslein, a second-team All-ILH guard, who graduates next month, but does return forward Den Suehiro, who was received honorable mention, and Justin Daise, another talented post player.

"Mid-Pac was also on the cusp of being there, but with the team that we're going to have next year we can get there with hard work and commitment," Hirata said. "Going against the top notch competition in the ILH is a challenge in itself, but a big part of it is getting them to try and believe that they can compete and win. Hopefully we'll be competitive and get these guys to buy into what we have to bring in."

As of Monday morning, Hirata said he had received nearly 50 text messages and 20 phone calls congratulating him on the job.

"It's definitely been humbling for me," Hirata said. "I'm just very, very thankful and humbled and I want to take the time to make sure I thank all the people that have helped me through the process."

Hirata, who is currently employed as the Development Coordinator at Chaminade, will have his first meeting with his players Friday.

"I want to make sure we take care of our student-athletes," Hirata said. "I told the search committee that the person and the student comes before the basketball player. I want each of our guys who comes through our program to be a good person first, then a good student and finally, the best basketball player he can be."



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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