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Vasconcellos makes Chaminade CollegewinnerBy Murray OldermanHONOLULU (NEA) -Seven years ago, I was running Mike Vasconcellos around a tennis court at Chaminade College, a small Catholic school nestled in the hills of Oahu overlooking Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head.Mike, a pleasant but competitive young man with pitch black hair, bronze skin and blue eyes, through whom courses the blood of the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Irish, the German and the native Hawaiian, had just become director of athletics at ChaminadeWhat, wondered Mike, could he do to put the little school of the Marianists order on the sports map?Get yourself a tennis player from the mainland, I suggested, someone on the order of a John McEnroe, and then everybody would know about Chaminade. Ormaybe a couple of basketball players because all it takes is a Ralph Sampson or a Patrick Ewing to elevate a program to national prominence.Years ago, I remembered, a school called Rio (rye-o) Grande College, tucked into the remote southeast corner of Ohio, had produced a shooting phenomenon called Bevo Francis. It instructed the players around him to feed the ball exclusively to Bevo. So, one night he scored 116 points. And. presto, the world knew about Rio GrandeMy conversation with Mike Vasconcellos was forgotten until the day before this past Christmas when I woke up and looked at ths sports pages, and theastounding news confronted me: Chaminade U. of Honolulu 77, Virginia 72.It was described, without exaggeration, as the greatest upset in the history ofcollege basketball. And amazingly, it was not a fluke. Virginia, then the No.1 team in the country, was undefeated and en routehome from a successful tournament in Japan. Sampson, the most imposing player in the college ranks, played most of the game and was limited to 12 points.Chaminade (now a university) had arrived as a college power, though it competed primarily at the NAIA level (a step below the NCAA's Divisions I and II).Now let us bring you up to date on Mike Vasconcellos and his little school.The Silverswords —named for plant that grows in the crags of Hawaii's volcanic craters — had lost two games, to Louisiana State and Wayland Baptist University (Plainview, Texas), before conquering Virginia. They lost one more game, to Hawaii Pacific College, the rest of the season and finished with a 27-3 record. Chaminade was ranked No.1 in the nation, in its division, among 530 schools It has since moved to the Division II title of the NAIA, which meant it could compete in the national finals in Kansas City in mid-March.Mike Vasconcellos still operates as athletic director from a single room in The Shack, running the entireprogram on a budget of $50,000 — which wouldn't even cover the cost of Ralph Sampson’s educationChaminade basketball coach Merv Lopes is a guidance counselor at Kala-kaua intermediate school in Honolulu during the day So the team practices at night.And where did the players come from? Well, center Tony Randolph, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Staunton, Va., happened to compete frequently against Sampson in high school — and he held#/yV *toMike Vasconcelloshis own this season against the big man Randolph had gone to Panhandle State in Oklahoma, but transferred to Chaminade after visiting his brother who was stationed at nearby Hickam Field.Guard Tim Dunham, the leading scorer for Chaminade, is from Stockton, Calif. He didn't have the grades to qualify for a Division I school, but could make it at the NAIA level.Richard Haenisch. an effervescent 6-foot-6 forward, was born in Germany but finished school in Honolulu. At the end of the Virginia game, he climbed the backboard and perched victoriously in the nm of the basketThe other squad membersare divided equally between local products and California kids, which is also essentially the makeup of the 900-member Chaminade studentFull athletic scholarships have only been granted for the last three years Because home games are played in McCabe Gym.essentially a high school facility which seats only 2.200, the basketball budget shows a loss — which is made up by contributions from a local boosters clubMike Vasconcellos has only one secretary and a student aide to administer athletics (which also includes golf and tennis) at Chaminade.His plans are grandiose Playing the basketball pow ers of the mainland is nothing new for the Swordsmen They had met Virginia twice in previous years This season, they also whipped the University of South Carolina. Projected next year is a home and-home arrangement with Stanford. Around the New Year, Vasconcellos plans an invitational tournament on the island of Maui, with Louisville. Virginia or North Carolina as possible entrants“We have no trouble luring Division 1 schools from the mainland, savs Mike7? T . ■'*. /.-. . ■ -WThey all want to come toHawaii And were not afraid to play them. Once they land in the islands, they get Polynesian Paralysis Not to mention blistering sunburns from the beaches which sometimes limits their physical exertionsMike s competitive juices are unrequited in only one area The last seven years at Chaminade have given him a chance to really work on his tennis game He wants to get me back on the court thereNo way I et him schedule Virginia instead.
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Mon, Jan 01, 0001
Page 9
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WV, USA 01 Nov 2019
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