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Up Close And Personal With HPU Basketball’s ‘Coach V’

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HPU athletic director and now head basketball coach (again) Darren Vorderbruegge. Photo courtesy of HPU Sports Information.

Hawaii Pacific University athletic director Darren Vorderbruegge took a two-year break from coaching men’s basketball, but only in the physical sense. In mind-set, at least, he never left the profession.

He came to HPU in 2006 following highly successful stints at both the prep and college level, most recently at Northwest Missouri State, where he was head coach for six seasons.

After taking over as HPU’s head coach in 2006, Vorderbruegge was promoted a year later to AD and the school brought Tony Sellitto out of retirement for two seasons to be the Sea Warriors’ head men’s basketball coach again. Then Vorderbruegge reclaimed the head job on March 6 and will now hold both positions.

He brings 23 years of high school and college coaching experience back to the sidelines at HPU. His collegiate basketball coaching record as an assistant and head coach is 164-91. Prior to HPU, “Coach V” (as he is known around the HPU campus), spent six seasons coaching at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo. As associate head coach he was instrumental in the national success achieved by the Northwest Bearcats who advanced to the NCAA DII Elite Eight twice and reached the Sweet Sixteen twice. He and wife Amy live in Hawaii Kai with their three children. He recently took some time away from his schedule to answer some questions for the Windward Oahu Islander.

What’s your earliest sports-related memory? Playing baseball at age 5 and being in right field and not paying attention. My dad yelled at me to wake up and pay attention.

Who has had the biggest impact on you in your life? I am an only child, so my relationship with my parents had the biggest impact on who I am. Professionally, I worked with a coach named Steve Tappmeyer at Northwest Missouri State; he had a big impact on me.

What’s the biggest challenge in running a college athletic program today? The economy has created a lot of challenges. With a Division II program, you do not make money (from athletics). Every sport is an expense. The value in DII athletics is not generally revenue, but in the experience it provides the student-athletes and the students.

What advantages does a private school have over a public institution - if any - in terms of athletics? One is the reputation and the quality of education. There’s a feeling that there’s an emphasis on quality education (at privately endowed schools), and HPU holds to that mission. We can really target kids who are serious about winning championships and kids who are serious about getting a degree that will help them when their playing career is over.

Is there an advantage to being the athletic director and the head men’s basketball coach? I catch myself trying not to be partial (toward the basketball program). They are two completely different jobs. I have a great staff here. We all help each other, and they allow me to coach when I need to coach. The only way to do both jobs is with the support staff I have.

What did you miss most about coaching during these last two years? The relationships you have with the young men. Basketball is unique in that. I coached golf, which I enjoyed, but there is a dynamic in the culture of basketball. There’s a level of intensity that I missed. I am looking forward to that.

What geographical region comes to mind when you think about recruiting? Is there any one single area of emphasis? Typically, coaches have an area they focus on. Being in Hawaii, you’re going to get on an airplane to get here. There’s not a big difference between California and Kansas. We probably target California more because of its population base - there are so many people there. We recruit nationally and internationally. Where there is a player, we’ll go.

What quality, among others, do you look for in a prospective recruit? As a staff, we always are asking ourselves three questions: First, we look at the quality of the person. Do they have the character and integrity of someone we want to be a part of our University? Secondly, is he serious about getting his college degree? Thirdly, there’s a level of play they have to be capable of playing at. We are playing to win. We try to balance those three things.

What influenced you to want to be a coach? In the seventh grade, when I was playing basketball (at Curtis Junior High in Wichita, Kans.), my coach Pat Gaines had a tremendous influence on me. That’s when it all started. I really enjoy the competition. As a profession, I think coaching allows you to feed off of that.

Who has influenced you the most in terms of how you go about running a program? Steve Tappmeyer. In my six seasons when we were at Northwest Missouri State, we reached the Elite Eight (of the national tournament) twice and the Sweet Sixteen twice. Twice we won the conference championship. It was a tremendous run. He showed me the level of intensity it takes every day in practice to be successful at the college level.