Flying at half staff

Acting Hawaii head coach Benjy Taylor was optimistic this week that he’d be able to complete his new coaching staff by the start of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic this weekend.

That hasn’t happened yet, though it doesn’t sound like it’s very far off.

It’s an open secret that administrative assistant Brandon Loyd will be elevated into one of the spots. Loyd had to apply for the full assistant position, basically as a formality. He’s been coaching on the court at practices in the meantime.

As for the third assistant, Taylor said he’s bringing in “someone I’ve coached against,” but didn’t elaborate. Both Loyd and the new coach are being processed in the UH human resources department, it is believed.

If UH has to proceed through the weekend with just two official coaches (Taylor and Senque Carey), that’s challenging on a couple of levels. First, a full staff usually divides up scouting responsibilities for the other teams in the tournament. Fewer coaches means rushed scouting reports, which is problematic for all the obvious reasons.

Then, there’s actual game management. Each assistant has specific tasks, whether it’s tracking timeouts, player fouls, success rate of specific sets, and more. It’s not easy to do with two or three people, especially a group that hasn’t worked together before.

Also, stay tuned for the return of Jamie Smith, who was the frontrunner to take the vacant director of basketball operations job before having to return to his native England with (more) work visa trouble. He might be back by the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.