UH Board of Regents approves contract renewals for Herman Frazier and Riley Wallace

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Carolyn Tanaka, (808) 956-9803
External Affairs & University Relations
Jim Manke, (808) 956-6099
Chancellor's Office
Posted: Jul 19, 2005

HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved the reappointments of UH Mānoa Athletics Director Herman Frazier and UH Mānoa Head Basketball Coach Riley Wallace at its monthly meeting this week at UH Mānoa.

Frazier‘s reappointment is for five years, effective August 1, 2005, at an annual salary of $250,000. Wallace‘s reappointment is for two years, effective May 1, 2005, at a salary of $250,000 for the first year and $275,000 for the second year.

"I‘m delighted that Herman Frazier and Riley Wallace will continue to serve UH‘s Mānoa campus and the community in the years to come. Herman has provided exemplary leadership for Mānoa‘s athletics program, raising their national profile and emphasizing success for our student athletes both in the classroom and on the field," said UH Interim President David McClain. "In his distinguished career, Riley Wallace has set the standard to which other coaches aspire. His teams are competitive, his athletes graduate, and he himself is a leader in our community."

During his first three years leading the UH Mānoa Athletics Department, Frazier has undertaken a number of initiatives to put the Athletics Department finances on a sounder footing. Upgrading the UH athletics facilities also has been a priority on his agenda. Partial renovations to Cooke Field began during his tenure and are ongoing. The field is the future site of the 2006 WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In addition, the new 12-court tennis complex, which received a $3.1 million makeover, recently hosted the WAC Championships, which is the first time Hawaiʻi has hosted the event since 1984.

In the past few years, Frazier has been recognized both nationally and internationally. He earned the distinction of being named among the Top 50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports in the March 2005 issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine. In 2001, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, which recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves after completing their collegiate athletic careers 25 years ago.

In 2003 and 2004, Sports Illustrated tabbed him one of the 101 most influential minorities in sports. Most recently, Frazier was named to the NCAA/USOC Task Force to oversee changes in Olympic sports sponsored by NCAA schools and to the Division I NCAA Football Issues Committee as the WAC representative.

Over the past 18 seasons, the UH Mānoa men‘s basketball program has flourished under the guidance of head coach Riley Wallace. The Rainbow Warriors have reached the postseason nine times during his tenure, appearing in the NCAA Tournament three times and invited to the National Invitation Tournament on six occasions. Prior to Wallace‘s arrival, the program had just one NCAA appearance and two trips to the NIT.

Wallace has earned numerous awards, including WAC Coach of the Year in 1989, 1997 and 2002. He was also named NABC District 13 Coach of the Year in 2002, the first time he was recognized nationally by his coaching peers.