• Akana comes to UH from BYU-Hawai‘i where he was an
assistant coach for the last nine years. He now brings his talents
to the Manoa campus, where his brother and wife both were standout
student-athletes.
• Recognized as one of the top Division II recruiters in the
nation, Akana helped reel in three-time All-American Lucas
Alves.
• A native of Kaunakakai, Molokai, Akana is a member of the
National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Diary Series: Brandyn Akana, Asst. Coach - Hawaii ("Warriors to Asia")
Our regular season officially began on Nov. 14 with a win over Cal State Northridge, but in essence our season truly began in July when we started to prepare ourselves for a historic goodwill tour. This summer we embarked on the “Warriors To Asia” tour, a 16-day trip to China and Japan that included six games against junior national and professional teams. The trip allowed us to get a head start with extra practices, compete against elite international competition and immerse ourselves in the rich and diverse cultures of Asia.
Because of my previous experience in China—I’ve been to the country nearly 20 times working closely with the Chinese University Basketball Association—I was selected by head coach Gib Arnold, to spearhead the tour. It was the second Asia tour that I coordinated after taking BYU-Hawai‘i there in 2004 as an assistant coach.
I also traveled to Korea twice when I was a player at BYU-Hawai‘i. Those memories are unforgettable and now I was able to see our players and staff enjoy the same eye-opening experience. In June, our freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes graduated from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York. A little more than a month later he was representing the University of Hawai‘i in DongGuan, China, playing against some of China’s best players. What an unbelievable transition to make in one summer.
Besides our games we had a ton of fun off the court—negotiating with the colorful street vendors, eating the local cuisine and seeing the breathtaking sight of the Great Wall of China. Our junior forward Hauns Brereton, who did a two-year church mission in Taiwan, spoke fluent Mandarin and served as our unofficial interpreter. How lucky were we?
The intensity of the trip, both on an off the court, allowed us to build a special chemistry. What other teams try to accomplish for a good portion of the season, we did in a month. I feel this team is as close a team as any I’ve been around.
One other important benefit we took from the trip was getting our guys ready for the rigors of travel. And believe me, when your nearest Division I opponent is 2,000 miles away, we know all about that. Our Asia trip saw us jump from planes, to buses and even trains on a given day. On one game day we flew two hours, took a three-hour bus ride straight to the gym, played (and won) our game, then took another three-hour bus ride to our hotel. We’ll be doing a lot of traveling this year—as far as Louisiana, New Mexico and Utah—and I don’t think we’ll have any tougher trips than that.
For me, it was another unforgettable trip, which was made even greater with the presence of family members. Coach Arnold was joined by his wife and both his parents. Meanwhile, I was lucky enough to have my wife Joselyn, sister-in-law Jessica and father-in-law Roy make the trek to Asia. Joselyn and Jessica brought the aloha spirit with them performing the hula at center court during our games and even brought up fans from the stands to join them.
It’s honor to be a part of College Chalktalk this year and I look forward to sharing more about our program throughout this season.
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