Matthew Paton is in his fourth season with the Rainbow Wahine basketball program after arriving in October 2005. A native of Newcastle, Australia, Paton is in charge of the Rainbow Wahine point guards as well as responsible for international recruiting, film exchange and scouting.
Paton already has over a decade of coaching experience, including head coaching stints in Switzerland and his native Australia.
Paton has worked extensively with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), widely acknowledged in Australia and internationally as a respected school for elite athlete development. From 1998 to 2001, he was a volunteer coach at AIS where he coached both men’s and women’s players who went on to various professional leagues, including the WNBA and Australia’s NBL and WNBL.
Before coming to Hawai`I, Paton served as women’s head coach of the Maitland Mustangs in the semi-professional Australian Basketball Association (ABA). As head coach for the past two seasons, Paton was responsible for not only the on-court direction of the squad, but also recruiting, monitoring of academic progress and undertaking public relations and promotional activities.
Paton also holds coaching experience outside of Australia. Paton was head coach for Club Sarnen in Sarnen, Switzerland, during the 2003-04 season. As the sole coach for the entire club, Paton was responsible for six teams and more than 65 athletes. Paton has also toured the U.S. twice before, spending time with both NBA and top NCAA teams in order to increase his coaching knowledge.
Paton began his coaching career in 1997 and has since been associated with numerous club, regional, territorial and state squads in Australia. In 2000-01, he was head coach for a Division I Open Women’s Club, directing current and former national women’s league (WNBL) players to a league championship. He also holds experience in the men’s game, most recently in 2003-04, serving as an assistant coach of the Herald Hunter Pirates, a professional men’s team competing in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).
Paton received his bachelor’s in applied science in sports coaching from the University of Canberra with a minor in sports administration in 2001.
