Report Title:

Western Athletic Conference Tournament Title

WHEREAS, prior to the start of the 2001 basketball season, Head Coach Riley Wallace previously had taken the Rainbows Warriors Basketball Team to four National Invitational Tournament appearances (1989, 1990, 1997, 1998) and one showing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament in 1994, following the Bows' first-ever Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament Title win; and

WHEREAS, the Rainbow Warriors' Basketball Team began the NCAA 2000-2001 basketball season unranked, but finished the regular season with a winning record (17-14) and was dubbed the "Melting Pot of Basketball Success" by one nationally syndicated sportswriter; and

WHEREAS, the Rainbow Warriors were led by center Troy Ostler, guards Mike McIntyre and Predrag Savovic (All WAC honors) and forwards Nerijus Puida and Phil Martin (All WAC honors) and were capably assisted by Carl English (WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player), Bosko Radovic, David Hilton, Lance Takaki, Ricky Terrell, Haim Shimonovich, Mindaugas Burneika, Ryne Holliday, Lane O'Connor, and Todd Fields; and

WHEREAS, after stunning WAC Tournament victories over higher-seeded Texas Christian University and nationally-ranked Fresno State, the Rainbow Warriors defied all odds, on March 10, 2001, by capturing their second Western Athletic Conference Tournament Title, in a dramatic overtime victory against Tulsa University on its home court (78-72), and securing their third trip to the "Big Dance" at the National Collegiate Athletic Association's National Basketball Tournament; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that Head Coach Riley Wallace, the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors' Basketball Team, and the entire coaching staff are heartily congratulated for putting together an exciting and magical basketball season that ended with a winning record, a second Western Athletic Conference Tournament Title, and a bid to the "Big Dance," and they all are sincerely wished the best in all their future endeavors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Coach Riley Wallace, the Rainbow Warriors' Coaching Staff, and the members of the Rainbow Warriors' Basketball Team.