Warrior Insider

Jabari Trotter and Jesse Nakanishi are the newest additions to the staff of the University of Hawai’i basketball team.

Trotter is now an assistant coach with the Rainbow Warriors, and Nakanishi is the director of basketball operations.

Trotter was an assistant coach at Dartmouth for the past two seasons. Nakanishi, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, was the director of operations at Seattle University last season. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Hawai’i Pacific University.

Trotter replaces Marlon Stewart, who recently departed UH for Oregon State. Nakanishi replaces Todd Okeson, who recently left UH for family reasons.

Here is the official announcement from www.hawaiiathletics.com …

HONOLULU – University of Hawai’i men’s basketball head coach Eran Ganot announced the addition of two new members of the Rainbow Warrior staff. Jabari Trotter joins as an assistant coach while Jesse Nakanishi will serve as the program’s director of basketball operations.

Trotter comes to UH after two seasons at his alma mater Dartmouth in the Ivy League. While at Dartmouth he was responsible for practice and game preparation, player development, and scouting, as well as serving as co-coordinator for recruiting.

Prior to Dartmouth, he was the director of basketball operations for a Lehigh squad that finished second in the Patriot League with a 13-5 conference record. Before that he served as an assistant coach of Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.

As a player, the native of Northridge Calif., was a stalwart for Dartmouth. The combo guard was a four-year starter and played in the second-most games in program history (112). He went on to play professionally in Ireland before returning to the States to begin his coaching career.

“We’re really excited to have Jabari on board,” Ganot said. “His passion and energy is clearly evident. Jabari excels in player development and has quickly built a reputation in recruiting circles for his relentless effort, keen eye for talent, and ability to develop strong relationships. We love everything about him. He’s a great fit with our staff and Hawai’i as a he gets back to his West Coast roots.”

Nakanishi, meanwhile, returns home after spending the 2017-18 season as the director of operations at Seattle University. Prior to Seattle he was a highly successful coach at both Hawai’i Pacific University and Kamehameha School-Kapālama. He served as an assistant coach for six seasons at HPU – four as an associate coach – highlighted by the 2016-17 season in which HPU finished with a 29-3 overall record and 20-2 PacWest mark. The Sharks earned the second seed in the West Region of the NCAA Division II Tournament and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the NABC National Poll during the season.

On the high school level, Nakanishi accumulated a 174-65 record in eight seasons while leading Kamehameha to a pair of state championships (2009, ’11) and a runner-up finish.

“It’s great to welcome Jesse back home,” Ganot said. “After an incredible high school coaching career, he worked under some terrific coaches in Darren Vorderbruegge and Jim Hayford on the collegiate level. He has a vast amount of experience working in different areas and has been successful wherever he’s been. We really look forward to him joining the staff and moving our program forward.”