One of Bob Coolen’s first acts upon being hired in 1991 as the University of Hawaii softball program’s third head coach was to advocate for a conference tournament in the Big West.
It took more than three decades for the rest of the league to come around, but a two-year contract extension will give Coolen an opportunity to lead the Rainbow Wahine to the inaugural Big West softball tournament before calling it a career in Manoa.
Coolen entered the 2023 season in the last year of his current contract, and UH athletic director David Matlin said he and Coolen came to an agreement in principle in February on the extension, with plans for the coach to retire following the 2025 season.
Matlin said the new contract has been approved by UH’s administration. Coolen will receive a salary of $125,000 for each of the next two seasons.
“I’m appreciative he gave me the two-year extension and I appreciate what he’s done for me while I’ve been here,” Coolen said of Matlin, who will retire as UH athletic director on June 2 after eight years in the post.
Craig Angelos was approved by the UH Board of Regents as Matlin’s successor on Thursday and will be the ninth athletic director (including two interim ADs) Coolen has worked with during his tenure leading the Wahine softball program.
He spent two years as an assistant coach before being hired to replace Rayla Allison prior to the 1992 season. Over the 32 seasons since, he’s amassed a record of 1,080-690-1 and led the Wahine to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Women’s College World Series in 2010.
“Bob has been one of our most tenured coaches we’ve ever had in our history and he’s had a lot of success in building the program,” Matlin said. “He’s done good in the community and we’ve been proud to have him as our coach.”
The Rainbow Wahine closed the 2023 season at 30-23 overall and 13-14 in Big West play and Coolen’s 37-year overall record, including five years at Bentley University (1984-89), stands at 1,152-783-1. His wins total ranks 26th in NCAA softball history and fifth among active coaches.
He’s been named a conference coach of the year six times (four in the Western Athletic Conference and two in the Big West) and is the second-longest-tenured coach at UH, trailing only sailing coach Andy Johnson.
“I’ve grown with the sport and seen it morph into what it is today as one of the most watched sports across the country,” said Coolen, who first got involved in coaching in 1981.
It wasn’t long after he took over the UH program that Coolen lobbied for a postseason tournament in the Big West.
“I went in there as a first-year coach and said I’d like to put his up for a discussion,” he said. “I knew I was fighting an uphill battle.”
His stance was reinforced in 1995 when the Wahine tied UNLV for first place but the Rebels were awarded the automatic bid to the NCAA regionals while UH was awarded an at-large berth.
The Wahine moved to the WAC for the 1997 season, hosted a conference tournament in 2008 and won the title in 2010 on their way to the WCWS. UH moved back to the Big West in 2013 and claimed the regular-season championship.
Coolen kept at it until the Big West announced in December the addition of a softball tournament in 2025. The Wahine will have to finish in the top six in the regular season to qualify for the double-elimination bracket.
“You can have that run, the ball bounces your way, a pitcher gets hot,” Coolen said of tracking the various tournaments across the country over the last two weeks. “There’s so many variables to an end-of-the-season tournament.”
He’s also witnessed the development of Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium from a few sets of bleachers to a 1,200-seat facility that now includes a clubhouse and coaches offices, which were completed last year.
Coolen will soon embark on another summer of scouting and recruiting, as will associate head coach Dee Wisneski and assistant Kaulana Gould. Coolen and his wife, Nanci, are also looking forward to becoming grandparents this summer.
Nakamura receives all-region honor
Rainbow Wahine second baseman Maya Nakamura was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-West Region third team on Thursday.
Nakamura, a Roosevelt graduate, led UH with a .390 batting average, good for third in the Big West. She also led the conference with a .531 on-base percentage and 1.116 OPS (on base plus slugging).
She was named to the All-Big West first team on Tuesday and earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Kaiser alumna Primrose Aholelei, a pitcher at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was named to the Central Region third team. BYU shortstop and ‘Iolani graduate Ailana Agbayani made the Pacific Region third team.
MOST WINS AMONG ACTIVE NCAA SOFTBALL COACHES
COACH, SCHOOL YRS. WINS
Patty Gasso, Oklahoma 29 1,446
Donna Papa, North Carolina 40 1,368
Patrick Murphy, Alabama 26 1,258
Karen Weekly, Tennessee 27 1,257
Bob Coolen*, Hawaii 37 1,152
*Includes five years at Bentley College (1984-89)
