Longtime Rainbow Warrior Bob Nash begins his 31st year affiliated with the University of Hawai‘i basketball program and third as the program’s head coach. During his three decades with the program, the former “Fabulous Five” member has taken on many roles—All-American player, graduate assistant, assistant coach and associate coach. In 2007, he accepted the biggest role of them all, as the program’s 18th head coach.
In a roller-coaster first season, Nash’s squad finished with an 11-19 mark. UH, however, exceeded preseason expectations by finishing in fifth place in the Western Athletic Conference, highlighted by a pair of upset wins over eventual regular-season champions New Mexico State and Utah State. Despite fielding a team without a single senior in his Nash’s second season, the Rainbow Warriors improved by two wins, highlighted by an 8-4 non-conference mark, the consolation championship of the Rainbow Classic and a pair of nationally televised wins.
Last season also saw Nash land one of the most prized recruits in the nation in Roderick Flemings, a junior college All-American, who spurned numerous offers from nationally ranked programs. Flemings went on to earn all-conference and all-district honors and is one off three players to earn all-WAC accolades in Nash’s two years as head coach.
Prior to becoming head coach Nash served as former skipper Riley Wallace’s right-hand man for 20 years. Nash was involved in every aspect of the program, from recruiting, scouting and running the offensive and defensive schemes of the Rainbow Warriors. He aided Wallace in building a winning tradition at Hawai‘i, which posted 16 winning seasons, including a current streak of eight straight. Under Nash, the ‘Bows won three Western Athletic Conference championships and made the postseason nine times - three to the NCAA Tournament and six times to the NIT.
UH reached the Big Dance in 2001 when it took out three of the top four seeds in the WAC Tournament to secure a berth in the country’s most coveted tournament. The ‘Bows beat Tulsa for the NCAA berth in the championship game in overtime before facing off against a potent Syracuse team in the first round. That tournament appearance was the first for UH in seven years.
The following season, the Rainbow Warriors continued their success when they won the WAC regular-season title and the WAC Tournament, and made the NCAA Tournament again. The 2001-02 squad won the most games out of any team in UH history (27) and finished the season nationally ranked (25) for the first time in school history.
UH followed that remarkable season with two straight appearances in the NIT (2003 and ‘04), extending its postseason run to four straight years. UH beat nationally ranked Utah State on the road in the first round of the NIT, its first-ever victory over a ranked opponent on the road.
Years earlier, UH had another remarkable postseason run with Nash. The 1996-97 and 1997-98 teams reached the NIT second round and quarterfinals, respectively. The backcourt duo of Anthony Carter and Alika Smith led the Rainbows to their first-ever WAC regular-season title during the 1996-97 campaign. The following season, UH started off by defeating Bob Knight’s Indiana squad and then upset No. 2 Kansas in the Rainbow Classic, the biggest upset in school history.
Some of the best players in school history played under the tutelage of Nash. Eleven of the 14 members of the 1,000-point club were coached by Nash, including all-time leading scorer Chris Gaines (1986-90), Predrag Savovic (1999-2002), Phil Martin (2000-04) and Julian Sensley (2003-06). Matt Gibson (2004-07) and Nash’s son Bobby (2003-07) were the latest to join that group during Nash’s first season as head coach.
Meanwhile, six different UH players were drafted or signed by NBA teams throughout Nash’s tenure. Countless numbers of others signed professional contracts overseas, including three players following his first year as head coach.
Nash played for UH after a stint at San Jacinto Junior College (1970) and was a part of the “Fabulous Five” team under head coach Red Rocha. During his two-year career (1970-72), Nash was named to numerous All-American teams. He helped lead UH to its first NIT (1970-71) and NCAA (1971-72) tournaments. During the 1971-72 season, UH was ranked in the Associated Press poll 11 consecutive weeks, reaching 12th in the country on March 7. The 1971-72 team still holds the record for biggest margin of victory in the program’s history against Redlands, 106-49.
Those two seasons sparked interest in UH basketball, which had its games televised live for the first time. The two teams won 47 of 55 games and set the bar high for the program. In leading UH to a Rainbow Classic tournament title in 1971 against Arizona State, Nash earned all-tournament team honors for his performance in the three-game tournament. In the final game of the Classic, Nash grabbed 30 rebounds against the Sun Devils, a school record which still stands today.
After Nash’s remarkable career at UH, he was selected seventh overall in the 1972 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He was the first player in UH history to be drafted in the first round by an NBA team. He played 71 games from 1972-74 for the Pistons before he went to play for the San Diego Conquistadors in the ABA for the 1974-75 season. Nash went overseas to Sweden to continue his career for two years before coming back stateside to play for the Kansas City Kings (now the Sacramento Kings) for the 1977 season.
Nash still has a mark on UH’s history. He continues to hold the record for most rebounds in a single season (361) and is one of two players who averaged double-doubles for their career (16.8 ppg and 13.6 rpg). He is seventh all-time in scoring average and holds the best rebounding average in the program’s history. When UH reached the NCAAs, Nash posted the school’s first double-double that season (18.2 ppg, 14.3 rpg).
In 1984, he completed his bachelor’s degree in education while coaching part-time for UH. He is married to the former Domelynne Lum, a former UH cheerleader, and they have two children, Erika and Bobby. Erika, a former Division I volleyball player at Bradley, is a master’s graduate of UH and earned her PhD at Missouri-Saint Louis in the summer of 2009. Bobby, a former UH standout, received his bachelor’s degree in political science in May 2007 and is currently playing professional basketball in Japan.
