Former Seasider Standout Shifts To Other Side Of The Ball
By Jack Danilewicz
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As the first Brigham Young-Hawaii coach a recruit meets, men’s basketball assistant Brandyn Akana can be called the ‘face of the program’ to a degree. That’s fine with him. His experience as a standout player for the Seasiders in the 1990s makes him ideally suited to sell the BYUH program to prospects.
“I played here, and so I think I have a good understanding, and that gives me an advantage,” said Akana, whose brother Jarrin is an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets.
With the Seasiders set to open the 2009-10 season as the top-ranked team in the country in Division II, Akana took some time away from the recruiting trail to talk with MidWeek about coaching and related subjects.
What are your thoughts on BYUH opening the season ranked No. 1 in the nation? Have you turned this to your advantage on the recruiting trail? It’s been fun being able to tell people, and it does make a tremendous difference. People recognizing basketball here is a good thing for the whole state. There also are a lot of expectations that come with it. Now we have to back it up.
Being the lead man on recruiting gives you a lot of responsibility within the program. What do you like best about recruiting? Recruiting is where you win games. Championships are won by who you bring in.
Who are your mentors or the people who influence the way you coach? As kids, Jarrin and I spent a lot of time with Merv Lopes during his time at Chaminade. He kind of took us under his wing. A lot of our going into coaching has to do with Merv and the example he set.
When did you know you wanted to be a coach? I think from intermediate to high school we both knew we had a place in basketball. My brother loved it, and because of that I loved basketball - not knowing it would be our profession. We’re both fortunate that we’ve been able to stay in it.
What’s the one characteristic above all others you look at when you decide to recruit a student-athlete? Being a church school, the main thing is making sure they are a good fit. They need to be good people. Character is important.
What’s the biggest challenge in recruiting from an island? The two main things are that we are a Division II school, so we’re smaller, and that we’re not the closest place to visit - especially if they are from further east, it gets tougher and tougher.
Who on the Seasider team will surprise people this season? Out of all the guys, I like (Snow College transfer) Rory Patterson. He’s new, but he’s an older player with experience. He has the full package, and at 6-foot-6, a guy who can shoot, run the floor and rebound can have a good impact in Division II.
You’re confined to the island of Kahoolawe and you can have an endless supply of one food. What would it be? I could probably eat venison (deer meat) all of the time. We used to hunt them on Molokai growing up.
What movie could you watch over and over again? The Sound of Music - my wife Joselyn and kids (Braelyn, Keoni-Lei and Tausilinuu) and I like to watch it.
How do you spend your free time? We like to go traveling. It’s been one of our favorite things to do as a family. On our last trip, we went to South Dakota, and then we visited Mexico. We also like to hike and spend a lot of time outdoors.
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