In a few weeks Dave Shoji will become the winningest women’s volleyball coach in NCAA history.
In a few months he might even ride off into the sunset (or nearest golf course) as the most celebrated coach in University of Hawaii annals.
There’s a lot of latitude that comes with 39 seasons and tremendous capital accumulated along with those 1,103 victories and four national championships.
So, if Shoji chooses to dIg in and hold his ground on denying wayward outside hitter Jane Croson a release to play for the University of Arizona this season, his wishes are likely to be honored by UH.
Yet, for all the times Croson has made the hair stand up on the back of his neck and how unpalatable the prospect of her return here on the other side of the net with the Wildcats on Sept. 14 in the Verizon Volleyball Challenge might be, it is testament to Shoji that he is said to be strongly considering granting that waiver.
AS KEENLY competitive and tenacious as Shoji is across most fields of endeavor, there is also an understanding this needs to be about her future more than the burned bridges of the past. There is, hopefully, recognition that while she is lost to UH, it may be in Croson’s best interests to let her move on to something that helps structure a happy ending.
That’s not a distinction a lot of coaches, especially older, accomplished, my-way-or-the-highway ones, make easily. Less so as the season nears, nerves tighten and the authoritarian streak runs deep.
UNDER NCAA rules for volleyball, Croson is free to transfer where she pleases and can even accept a scholarship. What she can’t do, however, is play immediately without a release from UH. The kind the Rainbow Wahine have so far resisted granting while wrestling internally with the decision.
An Arizona spokesman said the issue of whether Croson, who is listed as No. 10 on the Wildcats’ roster, plays this year or redshirts is expected to be decided shortly. And UH holds the key, which means Shoji has a call to make.
For the most part over the years, Shoji has been willing to grant waivers for those who want to leave, seeing it as in the best interests of the program and the players involved.
But you get the feeling that Croson, one-time All-Big West Conference selection and Western Athletic Conference all-tournament pick, touched a nerve or three between the drama of the past year and the way she chose to exit this summer.
FEELINGS apparently ran deep, especially since Shoji and the Rainbow Wahine worked to help Croson through some off-the-court issues last year that had led to suspensions. To their credit, they held the door open for her to return this year, provided she took care of business.
We’re told that if Croson demonstrates she has met many of the same requirements at Arizona that had been laid out for her rejoining the Rainbow Wahine that UH may acquiesce and sign the release.
Sometimes the most telling sign of power is how it is used.
