Beeman Says Aloha to Sidelines After 14 Seasons at Hawai‘i
By Kennedy Choo
After 14 seasons on the bench, University of Hawai‘i women’s basketball head coach Laura Beeman has finally hung it up. Coaches, players and staff members from across the University of Hawai‘i Athletic Department gathered at Gym II to wish the second longest tenured coach an aloha from the bench.
“It has been the honor of my lifetime to work here,” Beeman said.
“I am not running away from anything. I am not sick. There are no violations, and there is no job on the continent that I have interviewed for.
“I want to decorate a Christmas tree. I want to burn a turkey. I’ve missed 30 years of holidays away from my family and my continental friends. It’s time for a different chapter.”
As the second-longest tenured coach in program history, Beeman collected four Big West Coach of the Year awards, three Big West Tournament titles, four Big West regular season titles, nine postseason berths and three NCAA Tournament appearances. She ends her tenure in Mānoa with a 244–180 (.575) record, ranking second in program history in wins behind legendary Wahine head coach Vince Goo.
“Over the past 14 years, Coach Beeman has transformed the Wahine basketball program into a consistent winner,” Athletic Director Matt Elliott said. “She became the program’s eighth head coach in 2012 and has since built one of the most successful and respected programs in the country.
“While it is time for her to pursue a new chapter, her impact on this place is permanent. Today we express heartfelt gratitude to Coach Beeman for the student-athletes she mentored, the keiki she inspired, the University of Hawai‘i she served and the state she has uplifted.”
Beeman will remain in Hawai‘i and plans to stay involved with the Wahine basketball program.
“I’m not leaving Hawai‘i. I’m still going to be around,” Beeman said.
Elliott and his staff are now tasked with a national coaching search to replace Beeman.
