OVERLAND PARK, Kan.  – One of the most iconic coaches in college baseball will be forever immortalized. Legendary Hawai'i baseball head coach Les Murakami has been selected as a part of the College Baseball Hall of Fame's 2026 class, the College Baseball Foundation announced Monday.
 
The winningest coach in school history and the namesake for the home of Rainbow Warrior baseball, Les Murakami Stadium, he built the program up from nothing into a national powerhouse over his 30-year coaching career that he finished with a record of 1,079-570-4. He will join pitcher Derek Tatsuno (2007) as those who have been a part of the Hawai'i program in the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
  
During his time as the UH skipper, Murakami took the program to 10 NCAA Regionals and won six Western Athletic Conference titles. He led the 'Bows to their only College World Series appearance in 1980, in which they came one win shy of a national title.
 
Already a member of the coaches-only American Baseball Coaches' Hall of Fame, Murakami was a two-time WAC Coach of the Year and was named the 1986 NCAA District Coach of the Year and won the Lefty Gomez Award in 1981. Throughout his tenure he sent 74 players to play professional baseball with 10 of those eventually reaching the Major League level.
 


The program's first head coach in the collegiate era, Murakami took the reins in 1971 and in less than a decade built Hawai'i into a national contender year-in, year-out. Under Murakami's guidance, UH won 40-plus games 14 times including in 11 straight years from 1979-89. The two best seasons in program history came in back-to-back years in 1979 and 1980, when the 'Bows won 69 and 60 games respectively, with the 1980 season resulting in a national runner-up finish.
 
Perhaps one of Murakami's biggest contributions to the program came when he spearheaded the effort to build what was then called Rainbow Stadium that opened in 1984. Now bearing his name, Les Murakami Stadium has consistently been called one of the best venues in all of college baseball since its opening.


 
Under Murakami, UH led the nation in attendance in several seasons and totaled 223 sellouts, firmly entrenching Rainbow baseball as a cornerstone in the Hawai'i sports community. That legacy continues on to this day, as the 'Bows have remained in the top 25 nationally and among the top three in the West Region in average attendance.
 
Despite coaching his final game on the field in 2000 and officially retiring in 2001, Murakami has remained an active supporter of the program, coming to games and watching from afar over the last 25 years.