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Wagner Reaches Milestone

Brigham Young University Hawaii's men's basketball win over UH-Hilo on Saturday did more than just solidify the Seasiders' hold on second place in the Pacific West Conference.  It produced a remarkable milestone for Head Coach Ken Wagner as well.  The win gave Wagner 334 victories as coach of the Seasiders, tying him with former University of Hawaii legends Vince Goo and Riley Wallace for the most wins for a college head coach in state history.

Wagner, now in his 18th year at the helm of the Seasiders, will have his first chance to break the record on Wednesday when the Seasiders take on conference leader Chaminade in an important conference match-up at Chaminade.  BYU–Hawaii also plays at Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, giving Wagner two shots at the all-time mark this week.

During his tenure at BYU–Hawaii from 1990 to the present, Wagner has recorded a .664 winning percentage (334-169) including six season of 20 wins or more and has experienced just one losing season (14-16) back in just his third year in the islands.  He has won six conference titles and been named Coach of the Year six times.  Ten of his teams have gone on to post-season play, including six trips to the NCAA II National Tournament in the past eight seasons.  The Seasiders also made four trips to the NAIA National Tournament under Wagner and advanced to the NAIA Final Four in 1992.

Several outstanding players have developed under Wagner's tutelage in Laie including David Evans, the NCAA II national scoring champion in 1999-2000, and Yuta Tabuse, the only Japanese-born player and only Seasider to ever play in the National Basketball Association.  Coach Wagner has coached three NCAA II All-Americans and nine NAIA All-Americans.

According to Wagner, it's those players that deserve the credit for all those wins.  “It's really a tribute to the players,” he said.  “It means I have been fortunate to have a lot of good players over the years that have given us the consistency to produce winning teams.”

“The school administration also helped a lot as did the fans,” said Wagner, “by supporting me and the team over the years and giving us a chance to develop the consistency and longevity needed to add up the wins.”

Wagner came to BYU-Hawaii in 1990 after proving himself as a high school and junior college coach. He started at Lehi (Utah) High School in 1980 after graduating from BYU in 1979 with a bachelor's in physical education. At Lehi, he guided his teams to two state championships before leaving in 1985. Along the way, in 1982, he earned his master's degree in physical education and coaching from the University of Utah. He then went to Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah, where he compiled a record of 126-36 (.778) and had his team ranked in the NJCAA top twenty in four of his five years there.  His overall collegiate coaching record currently stands at 460-205 (.692) and his record including high school is 524-244 (.682).

Goo compiled a 334-166 (.668) record as coach of the women's program at Manoa from 1987-2004 while Wallace rang up a 334-265 (.558) mark as head of the men's team from 1987-2007.  Wagner said he was honored to be in their company.  “There have been a lot of good coaches in Hawaii, including Goo, Wallace, and Tony Sellitto (295-136, 684 at Hawaii Pacific from 1988-2002), and I feel really lucky to have coached long enough at BYU–Hawaii to be listed alongside those coaching greats,” he said.

 

 

Ken Wagner's Record at BYU–Hawaii

Year                                    W-L                        Pct.
1990-91                        18-12                        .600
1991-92                        28-7                        .800
1992-93                        14-16                        .467
1993-94                        22-10                        .688
1994-95                        19-12                        .613
1995-96                        24-7                        .774
1996-97                        21-8                        .724
1997-98                        19-8                        .704
1998-99                        14-14                        .500
1999-2000                    19-9                        .679
2000-01                        14-13                        .519
2001-02                        19-10                        .655
2002-03                        19-4                        .826
2003-04                        23-6                        .793
2004-05                        16-9                        .640
2005-06                        14-11                        .560
2006-07                        20-8                        .714
2007-08                        11-5                        .688

Totals (17+ yrs.)            334-169            .664