Former Chaminade University athletic director Mike Vasconcellos, who led the Silverswords to national athletic prominence in the 1980s, died in an Ewa Beach care home Monday.

His exact age could not be immediately verified but several friends said he was 69.

“He was a risk guy, always looking to the stars,” said former Chaminade basketball coach Merv Lopes, whose Silverswords upset then-No. 1 Virginia in 1982 in what Sports Illustrated described as the greatest upset in college basketball history. “He had a vision.”

Vasconcellos and Lopes shared a wooden office nicknamed the “Shack.” With a small operating budget, Vasconcellos relied on friendships and relentlessness to cobble supplies (towels were borrowed from hotels) and to secure the game against Virginia, which was returning from a trip to Japan. 

Chaminade’s victories over Virginia, Louisville and Southern Methodist eventually led to the creation of the Maui Classic, now named the EA Sports Maui Invitational, an ESPN staple on Thanksgiving week. 

“Without Mike Vasconcellos, Chaminade wouldn’t have accomplished what it accomplished,”said Mark Rodrigues, a former Silversword point guard. “He had the vision. He put everything in place.”

Lopes said: “He did everything. I lost a good friend.”