HONOLULU – Two of the winningest coaches in University of Hawai'i history, a world record holder, and an all-pro Japanese Baseball Leaguer are the latest inductees to the 2009 University of Hawai'i Sports Circle of Honor presented by Bank of Hawaii.

 

Vince Goo, Jim Schwitters, Terry Albritton, and Jyun “Curly” Hirota will be officially announced as the UH Sports Circle of Honor inductees at a media luncheon Friday hosted by Bank of Hawaii. All four were coaches with UH – Goo spent 17 seasons with the women's basketball team; Schwitters was the NCAA's all-time wins leader after a brilliant 38-year career with the men's and women's tennis teams; Albritton served as strength and conditioning coach after gaining fame as a world-class shot putter; and Hirota was UH's baseball coach following an all-pro Japanese baseball career.

 

This is the 28th group to be enshrined, a tradition which started in 1982 when the bank and UH partnered to recognize individuals and teams that have contributed to the growth, history and tradition of UH Athletics.

 

The four will be introduced at halftime of the UH vs. Fresno State men's basketball game Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. They will also be honored at a reception prior to the game, hosted by Bank of Hawaii, at the Ed Wong Hospitality Room.

The total number of inductees in the Circle of Honor is 90, including this year's honorees. Ten teams have also been enshrined. Plaques honoring the individuals and teams are anchored on the inner walls surrounding the main concourse of the Stan Sheriff Center. 

 

 

Vince Goo, the son of former men's basketball coach Ah Chew Goo, coached the Rainbow Wahine basketball team for 17 seasons and upon his retirement in 2004, was the winningest college basketball coach in the state of Hawai'i – men's or women's. His teams won 334 games and made 10 trips to the postseason, including five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

During his career, he coached three All-Americans, three conference players of the year, 21 all-conference players, and three Hawai'i representatives for NCAA Woman of the Year – Nani Cockett, BJ Itoman and Raylene Howard. In addition, six of his players also earned the Jack Bonham Award, UH's highest student-athlete honor.

 

In his second season, Hawai'i made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the first of five during his career. Goo also led the Rainbow Wahine to four 25-plus seasons, including a school-best 28 wins in the 1992-93 season. In 1997-98, the Rainbow Wahine won their first Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship and finished 24-4.

 

Under Goo, UH also won back-to-back regular-season Big West Conference titles as well as the Big West tournament title in 1996. The Rainbow Wahine finished second in the 1992 NWIT, capping a 26-8 season. 

 

Goo was named coach of the year in the Big West three times and once in the WAC. However, he was proudest of his players' successes in the classroom where he had a nearly perfect graduation rate with more than 40 Rainbow Wahine receiving their degrees.

 

When he retired in 2003 after a 38-year coaching career, Jim Schwitters was the winningest coach in NCAA tennis history (1,327-610-15) with his combined record for men (819-409-8) and women (508-201-7).

In men's tennis, Schwitters coached 14 all-WAC players, one ITCA scholar-athlete and five ITA scholar-athletes. He was the ITCA Region VII coach of the year in 1999-2000. Among his highlights include an eighth place finish at the 1968 NCAA College Division Championship and qualifying for the 1975 NCAA Division I Championship.

 

In 26 seasons with the Rainbow Wahine, he coached a dozen all-WAC players, including Diane Okada, the WAC player of the year in 1993. There were also three ITA scholar-athlete awards and 18 academic all-WAC players. He also coached one of the most dominate doubles teams in women's tennis in Rosie Vera Cruz and Rose Thomas (1981-85), who teamed up to win 100 matches during their careers.

 

Hawai'i Tennis News named Schwitters one of the Top 10 Players of the Century in Hawai'i and the Player of the Decade for the 1970s.

 

He was inducted into the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame, the U.S. Professional Tennis Association Hall of Fame, U.S. Tennis Association-Hawai'i Hall of Fame, and the St. Ambrose College Hall of Fame, where he had an All-American career.

 

Terry Albritton broke the world record in the shot put (71 feet, 8 1/2 inches) at an all-comers meet at Cooke Field while a junior at UH in 1976. Later that year, he won the NCAA title.

 

Albritton enrolled in Stanford in 1973 on a football scholarship and also competed in track, where he was second in the shot put in the Pac-8 in 1974. He transferred to Hawai'i in 1975 and was the NCAA runner-up that year.

 

When UH dropped the men's track and field program after his world record breaking season, he transferred back to Stanford, where he won the 1977 NCAA shot put title.

 

Following his competitive career, Albritton served as strength coach at UH from 1979-85, and is regarded as a pioneer in plyometrics and other fast-twitch muscle training techniques. He later was a teacher and coach at St. Anthony High in Maui where one of his prodigies was Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Albritton died in Cambodia in 2004 at the age of 50. 

 

Jyun “Curly” Hirota was a two-sport athlete at UH, an all-league baseball player and co-captain of the 1948 football team, as well as the Rainbows baseball coach in the 1960s. 

 

When World War II interrupted this athletic career, Hirota joined UH's Varsity Victory Volunteers, a group of Japanese-American students who volunteered their services in support of the U.S. Military in non-combative roles. After the war, Hirota resumed his studies at UH and played baseball (catcher-infielder) and football (halfback) for three seasons through his graduation in 1949 with a business degree in economics.

 

Hirota went on to an all-star pro career with the Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Baseball League, and was the catcher as the Giants won four consecutive Japanese World Series titles (1952-55). He was Rookie of the Year in 1952 and was named the catcher for the Japan All-Time Nine team.

 

He coached the Rainbows from 1963 and '65. In 1970, he became the manager of the Kintetsu Buffaloes, a farm club in the JBL, leading the team to its first title in 23 years.

 

When returning to Hawai'i in 1973, he assumed the role of assistant events manager and later events manager at Aloha Stadium upon his retirement in 1994. He died in 2003.