Gabriel Roberts, new head coach of the BYU-Hawaii Men’s Basketball team, will carry on the 27-year legacy of Coach Ken Wagner for the last year of the Athletics program at BYUH. Personal history and yearlong experience as assistant coach help him to lead the team in this crucial final season.
“I have always kept the hope that they will change their minds and we will have the Athletics program for longer,” said Roberts. “But if that doesn’t happen, I just want to retain sports and have the best possible program we can have. We are going to try to have the best players and team we can have and do everything in our power to represent the school in a positive manner.”
The new Athletics Director, Brad Jones, said, “Coach Wagner has for 27 years created a tremendous Athletics program. Everything is a fine-tuned machine.” He stated this has made it easier for him to step in and carry on for one year through the transition because BYUH has such a healthy system.
“Knowing that it is the last year motivates me more because I really want to win a championship,” said Justin Park, a junior majoring in international cultural studies from Arizona, and who will continue to play the last season with the basketball team.
“It is the last year we will be able to do this, and it motivates me to work and train harder also in the off season. I expect a lot of great things to happen. We have a lot of talent coming up. A lot of the players are really talented, have different skill sets that can help everybody out.”
Park said he has confidence and trust in his new coach. “Coach Roberts was the assistant coach so we know what he likes to do. Now that he is the head coach, I am sure he wants to change some things around and do some new things. It will be an adjustment at first, but we like him as the assistant coach so it will be a great time having him as our head coach now. He is all about winning – that’s for sure.”
Wagner retired from BYUH due to the opportunity of coaching the national teams in Taiwan, said Roberts. “Because of the circumstances, he thought it would be a good idea to leave now and give me a year of experience as head coach because I have been his assistant for eight years.”
From a junior high coach and teacher with the dream of becoming a high school coach, Roberts came to BYUH first as a volunteer assistant. “I ended up getting along with the head coach, and he liked having me around so he ended up paying me part time and I stayed for five more years.” After getting a graduate degree, he came back to BYUH and started working full-time as assistant coach.
Roberts referred to Elder David A. Bednar’s comparison of the different ways of receiving inspiration, where he emphasized the more common occurring pattern of “seeing a little bit in front of you to see the next steps.
"[Elder Bednar] described it like a foggy day, where you can’t see a lot in front of you at all, but as you move forward in faith, then you see just enough to go past. That is the way it works for me. I never thought of coming out here and coaching. But I look back now and see several things lined up for me.”
Roberts said he doesn’t know if God’s plan is to have him coach and save the Athletics program at the last minute or if it’s simply to help to get him to the next place. “But I have seen a purpose in my life where everything plays in for a reason,” he said.
The Athletics program under the hand of Jones will, despite the imminent end, continues to find new and better ways to serve players, students, and community. “The focus is the student athletes, to make it a tremendous opportunity and experience for them,” said Jones.
Another emphasis for this last year, according to Jones, will lie in honoring all who came before. “We are here and have been made great because of the other student athletes and coaches [who preceded us].”
Preliminary discussions on how to “carry on the legacy” have been made, said Jones. “It was a big part of BYUH and is something you don’t just sever and forget about.”
The discussions have focused not only on the achievements in the games, but also on how the Athletics program “has helped the church to become more prominent in other areas. A lot of media comes to the school through the Athletics. We might reach out to the media and highlight those great athletes who have been here before.”
Park said, “We are hoping to get more of the community involved next year and to get more people to the games. We were talking about doing service in the community as a basketball team, to go out and serve our fellow members and students.”
Roberts concluded, “All we can do is put forth our best efforts. If the decision can’t be changed, then we at least do our part. It is like when you lose a match. You did everything you could and you just came up short. You can still be proud of your efforts and what you did.”