The Circle completes Kolten Wong’s baseball legacy.
The Hilo native, who was a standout for three years with the University of Hawaii and played 11 Major League Baseball seasons, has been inducted into UH’s Circle of Honor.
It was the latest tribute for Wong, whose No. 14 jersey was retired by the Rainbow Warriors in 2017. In 2022, the likeness of Wong was placed on the outfield fence at Les Murakami Stadium. And now Wong is one of five members of the 2025 class of the Circle of Honor.
“This is amazing to be in the Circle of Honor,” Wong said in a telephone interview from Arizona. “To get my number retired was incredible. It was something I never expected. When I went to UH, it was just to play for my state. It wasn’t for me to make any accolades. But to get that (number retirement), and be from here, and be rooted in Hawaii like I am now, and then to get this, you can’t ask for anything better.”
Wong, who attended Kamehameha-Hawaii, hit .358 in three years with the ’Bows. In 2010, Wong’s walk-off homer against Louisiana Tech in the opening round paved the way for the ’Bows to win the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and earn a berth in the NCAA Regionals.
“That’s definitely top five,” Wong said of his career highlights. “To do it for the University of Hawaii and get us to the Regionals was, that was cool.”
A first-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, Wong went on to play 11 MLB seasons. He won two Gold Gloves.
He credits his father, Kaha, for helping develop his baseball skills. The elder Wong, who played at USC, is a travel-ball coach and owner of a Hilo-based baseball academy.
“My dad is the pillar of Hilo baseball,” Wong said. “There’s nobody else in Hilo who’s done what he’s done for the kids there. I think he had a streak of 15 years straight of getting a kid drafted. … Just to see from our small little island what my dad was able to accomplish, obviously starting with us, and then continuing that trend … no one gives him enough credit for what he’s done.”
Wong and his brother, Kean, who also played in the big leagues, benefited from their father’s training.
“Any type of garage or open space we had, we had batting cages out there.” Wong recalled. “My dad started a hitting facility when I was in middle school. It was kind of in the middle of two buildings. He put a cement slab down. We had a cage, and gray tarp over the cage, and that’s how it started. It’s crazy to think we came from that to being in the big leagues, being at the University of Hawaii.”
Part of Wong’s training, according to reports, was using an ax to cut down trees — and strengthen his swing.
Wong said he grew up following such UH players as Matt Inouye and Jon Hee. “When you grow up in Hilo, (UH is) the dream,” Wong said.
Although he received offers from Arizona and Arizona State, among several Division I programs, he committed to UH when he was a sophomore at Kamehameha-Hawaii. “That’s how excited I was to go there,” he said.
The official enshrinement of this year’s class will be at the Green & White Celebration scheduled for May 18 at The Royal Hawaiian Resort. For information and table sales, visit www.koaanuenue.org.
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2025 UH CIRCLE OF HONOR CLASS
>> Kelly (Majam) Elms, softball
>> Chris McLachlin, announcer
>> John Nakamura, coach
>> Chad Owens, football
>> Kolten Wong, baseball
