Following a decorated coaching career leading the University of Hawai‘i women’s basketball program, Laura Beeman continues her connection with the athletics department as Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Success.
Beeman led the Rainbow Wahine for 14 years before announcing her retirement from coaching following the 2025-26 season. In her role as part of UH Athletics’ executive leadership team, Beeman oversees the department’s support services for student-athletes in the areas including health and wellness, professional development, compliance and academic support. She will also lend her expertise to facilitate coach development programming, community engagement efforts and department-wide strategy.
“Laura's commitment to our student-athletes has been evident throughout her incredible tenure as our women's basketball coach,” UH Athletics Director Matt Elliott said. “She brings more than 30 years of coaching experience and leadership to her new role, making this a natural transition. We are thrilled to keep her in the UH ‘ohana as part of our leadership team, where she will undoubtedly make a profound impact on the holistic development of our student-athletes and the University.”
Beeman arrived in Manoa in 2012 after being hired as the Rainbow Wahine basketball program’s eighth head coach. Over the next 14 years, she earned four Big West Coach of the Year awards (2015, ’22, ’24, ’25) and led the Rainbow Wahine to four Big West regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships. Beeman guided the ’Bows to nine postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournament berths, during her tenure on the sideline.
She closed her UH coaching career with a 244-180 record and ranks second in program history in both victories and length of service as head coach. Beeman's teams also excelled in the classroom under her leadership. The Rainbow Wahine set a program-record multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 995 and posted a 3.49 team GPA in the fall 2025 semester.
In all, Beeman’s coaching career spanned more than three decades, including 16 years as head coach at Mt. San Antonio College, followed by stints as an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and at USC. She is an inductee into the Cal State San Bernardino Hall of Fame (2017), California Community College Hall of Fame (2019) and Mt. San Antonio College Athletics Hall of Fame (2026).
