“I think one of the most important things that we try to stress in our program[…] is team is always first[…] and you know, that’s what Iolani is about, it was always built on one team,” says Coach Ryan Hirata ‘04.

This year’s ‘Iolani Varsity Boys Basketball team faced multiple challenges, such as height, a shallow bench, and a very young team with only 3 seniors out of a 12-player lineup. This season didn’t go as well as the players wanted, with an ILH record of 2 wins and 5 losses (5th place) compared to last year’s 3-8 (4th place). Despite the outcome, Coach Hirata, the head coach for 6 years now, supported and motivated the team to play to their advantages such as shooting, instead of focusing on the challenges they face.

Coach Hirata and sophomore Declan Beckette ’27 both agree that one of their biggest weaknesses was their size. Although every ILH team outsized them, senior Aidan Wong ’25 disagrees, claiming that it was both a strength and a weakness. “We are not that big so we were able to play a five-out offense to allow for more creativity within the team. I think that’s also one of our weaknesses, though, because as we play bigger teams, they could beat us in the paint and could overpower us.” Despite this, Wong said that Coach Hirata would tailor plays or specific strategies against the team they were playing to try and counter the disadvantages of smaller size. Additionally, Coach Hirata stayed up late at night so he could scout the opponent and put together his note card that contained what strengths the opponents had and what weaknesses they could attack. That way, they could use their own strengths and weaknesses to take advantage of their opponents’ vague areas.

Another point of weakness Beckette mentioned is that they were underclassmen-heavy and therefore had a very small amount of bench players, sometimes only letting 6-7 players play during the entirety of the game. In an attempt to overcome this, Beckette says that one of the ways that Coach Hirata tried to address this problem was to push the team “110%” during conditioning so they could play a lot longer without much fatigue. Beckette says, “In the beginning of preseason, he drew a line and said ‘You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. By the end of the season we’re all going to be part of the solution.’” He pushed them to become the best they could be.

Not only does Coach Hirata help the players to become better athletes, he also pushes all his players to become better people. Wong says, “He’s always correcting me when I’m acting kind of nonchalant or not giving my full effort and is always kind of being right behind me, pushing me to get to where he wants.” 

While this season fell short of the players’ hopes and expectations, Wong hopes that the young guys have learned a lot this season and can do better next season. Coach Hirata agrees that all the players have gotten better and closer, leaving hope for next season. Beckette says Coach Hirata is a great influence on the team. “You can tell that he wants you to do your best. Do what’s best for us. He wants us to win as much as he wants to win for his competitive nature, but he also wants to win to see us happy, see us succeed. Just his total effort he puts forth is really inspirational for the whole team.”