University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

Chris Acker begins his second season with the Rainbow Warrior basketball team.  Acker oversees the team’s defense and serves as the program’s player development coordinator with an emphasis on the UH post players. He’s also involved in scouting, recruiting, and managing the speed, strength and overall health of the Rainbow Warriors with UH’s strength coaches and athletic trainers.   
 
Last season, Acker helped UH win its first-ever Big West title and make its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 years.  He directed a defense that led the conference in steals (7.6) and that finished second in 3-point field goal percentage (.303) and blocked shots (3.3).
 
Acker also played a major part in the maturation of forward Stefan Jankovic who went on to earn Big West Player of the Year and NABC all-district honors. This past summer Jankovic signed a free agent contract with the NBA’s Miami Heat.
 
The Southern California native joined the Hawai‘i staff after two years as head coach of West Los Angeles College where he quickly turned around a fledgling program. In his first season at West LA, he coached a squad made up of 11 true freshmen, then served notice to California the very next season by more than doubling his win total (18-9) and qualifying for the CCCAA regional playoffs.
 
Acker’s run at West LA was not the first time he enjoyed collegiate coaching success. Prior to West LA, he was an assistant coach, and later associate head coach, at Citrus College for six years. During his tenure at Citrus, the Owls won the California state championship in 2008, and made it to the Final Four two years later before losing in the championship game. Acker was also part of two Western State Conference championships and instrumental in Citrus posting a remarkable 92-6 record during his tenure, the best six-year run in CCCAA history. More than 40 of his Citrus players received full scholarships to four-year universities (Division I, II and NAIA) during that span with many furthering their careers playing professionally in Europe, South America, Asia, and in the NBA Developmental League.
 
Originally from Compton, Calif., Acker played two years at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas before finishing his collegiate playing career at Chaminade University in Honolulu. He was a key contributor for the Silverswords and part of the team that upset Villanova in the 2003 EA Sports Maui Invitational. Acker took his career to the next level and played professionally overseas in Portugal and Greece before returning to the US to play in the Continental Basketball Association with the Pittsburgh Explosion.
 
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix and earned his Master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University-Irvine.
 
Acker and his wife Jen have two sons — Malakai and Elijah.