Rainbow Wahine assistant coach Da Houl enters her third season at UH as an associate coach under head coach Dana Takahara-Dias. Houl spent 12 years as an assistant coach from 1992-2004 under former head coach Vince Goo.
Houl has helped develop numerous stand-out players for the Rainbow Wahine during her time spent as a UH coach. UH also went to three NCAA Tournaments and made four WNIT appearances during her original stint with Goo.
Along with her college coaching experience, Houl also has extensive experience at the high school level. She was an assistant at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu for five seasons and has also coached at Brea Olinda High School and Katella High School, each in California.
During her playing career at Hawai‘i, the 5-foot-3 point guard started all 28 games in her junior season. In her senior season, she led UH to a 21-7 overall record and a second-place finish in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. She was named the team’s most inspirational player twice and voted team captain her senior year.
Houl came to Hawai‘i with success both as a player and a coach. In 1983, her senior season at Brea Olinda High School (Brea, Calif.), Houl was named Orange County and Los Angeles Times Player of the Year and was a member of the Basketball Congress International All-America Team. Her on-court achievements made her the first female athlete in Brea Olinda history to have her jersey retired and earn a full athletic scholarship.
Following her playing career at UH, Houl began coaching at Katella High School in Anaheim, Calif., where she served as assistant girls’ basketball coach during the 1988-89 season. She returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach from 1989 to ’92 helping the Ladycats to three consecutive state championship appearances. In 1991, the team took home the state Division II championship and the following year won the Division III state title.
In 1989, Houl received her bachelor’s degree in physical education at Cal State Fullerton. She earned a teaching credential from Chapman University in 1990 and an adapted physical education teaching credential from Cal State Fullerton in 1991.
A native of Cambodia, Houl resides in Honolulu.
