BILL Villa will retire as Chaminade University’s athletic director after Tuesday, but nobody there expects him to stray too far away in coming basketball seasons.

Not with one grandson, Jessiya, joining the Silverswords men’s basketball team for 2020-21 and another, Telryn, going to suit up for PacWest Conference rival UH-Hilo in 2022-23.

“I think we’ll have to find a place on the pass list for him at (McCabe Gym),” said Kevin Hashiro, the school’s sports information director.

But, then, the 67-year old Villa and his hearty laugh have long blessed Silversword athletics with a family touch, too.

Maybe it was, in part, the compact office quarters he inherited, a place where coaches and staff were stuffed tightly into “The Shack,” his desk just steps from the laundry machine. But it was also undoubtedly the caring nature he brought to the 10 sports that make up the Silversword athletic program and genial collaboration he added to the PacWest Conference.

“Bill has been a wonderful ambassador of aloha and it really has been a privilege working alongside him not only in the conference but especially here in Hawaii,” said Patrick Guillen, UH-Hilo’s athletic director. “While I know his leadership in collegiate athletics will be missed I am grateful that our friendship will continue.

“I can’t wait to watch the proud grandpa cheering in the stands for the Silverswords — and the Vulcans,” Guillen said, no doubt enjoying the prospect.

Historically there has been a high turnover in Division II ADs here, given the demands of the job and limited resources, but Villa lasted 12 years, the second-longest tenure in Chaminade history.

He learned the importance of patience and teamwork early on as a guard on the University of Hawaii’s “Baby ’Bows,” which is what UH’s short-lived, largely freshman junior varsity teams of the early 1970s were called. They were the warm-up act at the then-Honolulu International Center for the usually sold-out Fabulous Five.

“I was a back-up but (coach) Bruce O’Neil would have them put me in because I was the only guy who would pass the ball and run the offense,” Villa said.

Villa went into private business after graduation and then found his way back to coaching and athletic administration, eventually spending 15 years between Assets School and Mid-Pacific Institute before heading to Chaminade.

He leaves for a part-time position with Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association with a lot to show for his tenure. His vision and drive have aided the addition of new coaches offices under the campus parking structure and, most recently, the opening of new men’s, women’s and visitors lockers and athletic training room behind McCabe.

It was a sign of the regard he was held in that Villa was voted into the Chaminade Athletics Hall of Fame, two years before his retirement.

One thing that Villa didn’t manage to accomplish, much to the amusement of many of his colleagues, was securing a campus parking space.

Deans at the school are rewarded with reserved parking but as an AD, Villa and his brown Honda were part of the daily pack left to troll for hard-to-find spaces. Friends nicknamed him CU’s “Dean of Parking” and, after a while, he even came to introduce himself to newcomers on campus by that title.

“I still didn’t get the parking spot,” Villa laughs.

Maybe they can round up one for the “Dean” of Chaminade athletics on Tuesday.