Arnold’s coaches: Where are they now?

With some talk lately about former Hawaii hoops coach Benjy Taylor landing at Audi of Honolulu, it might be a good time for some updates on other ex-UH coaches — specifically, their current whereabouts.

First, about Taylor. The 20th coach in UH hoops history hasn’t discounted a return to the college game, but he’s cited wanting to be around his kids over the next few years as a primary motivation right now, and seems pretty comfortable in the islands. He’s said on more than one occasion, “I’m going to be just fine,” when asked about his hoops job prospects.

I’m sure more than a few customers who drop by Audi will want to chat with Taylor about hoops — past, present and future.

As for some other coaches from the Gib Arnold era:

Gib Arnold — Arnold, of course, is still embroiled in an ugly dispute with UH over both some alleged conduct over the course of his four-year tenure, as well as the $1.4 million Arnold says he’s owed as part of his “without cause” severance. Most recently, he’s been sued by UH, and has seen his NCAA court date pushed back to September. In the meantime, he’s been spotted all over, locally and on the mainland, and has at various points been rumored to be: scouting in Europe; going for positions with the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics; and most recently, directing a prep school in California. It’s not yet clear what Arnold will end up doing.

Benjy Taylor — See above.

Brandyn Akana — The former UH assistant, who was named in some of the NCAA allegations against the university, is no longer a basketball coach after being lumped in with Arnold in UH’s “without cause” firings. When he was let go, that might have all but sealed Isaac Fotu‘s departure to the pros — they were particularly close. He hasn’t really been mentioned in any of the legal posturing since, preferring to keep a low profile. He became a housing director at Brigham Young-Hawaii, where he was an assistant coach under Ken Wagner before Arnold brought him to UH.

Scott Fisher — Fisher, an icon in Australian basketball as both a player and coach, began his tenure at UH as a director of operations and worked his way up to full assistant. He was released from the program by Arnold in the summer of 2014, just before things really hit the fan. Fisher was named in the NCAA’s allegations as having committing infractions while he served as the DOBO in 2010-11. Fisher told the governing body he acted at Arnold’s behest, and expressed remorse. After departing UH, he became the head coach at Ohlone (Calif.) College, a JUCO near where he grew up. The Renegades went 23-7 last season. He’s expressed a desire to return to the islands in the future.

Chris McMillian — The former UH strength coach-turned-DOBO was let go by Arnold at the same time as Fisher in the summer of 2014. McMillian landed quite softly, latching on as an assistant with JUCO powerhouse College of Southern Idaho for the 2014-15 season. CSI went 31-3 and made a run in the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. The former Wyoming point guard parlayed that season into a position back in Division I, latching on with Illinois-Chicago of the Horizon League as director of player performance in June.

Jamie Smith — Smith has so far remained on board as performance analyst with new UH coach Eran Ganot. He’s hopeful that he can stay and avoid any future work visa-related trouble. His themed game nights might continue.

Senque Carey — The one-year UH assistant was brought in to replace Fisher under Arnold. Carey might have gotten a little more than he bargained for when he flew to paradise, but had nothing to be ashamed of in his short tenure. Carey, who’d coached at Fresno State and other places, rode out the bumpy (and surprisingly successful) season. But he realized once Taylor was passed over for the permanent job, his chances of staying on board in Manoa were slim. Carey has gotten new life, though, recently latching on as an assistant with a successful Florida Gulf Coast program in recent weeks.

Brandon Loyd — Arnold brought the former UCLA player Loyd in as an administrative assistant in the offseason prior to the 2014-15 season. Once Arnold and Akana were fired, though, Taylor needed to fill some gaps. Loyd, a former assistant at Cal State Los Angeles, was a no-brainer to elevate into one of the vacant assistant spots for the remainder of the season. But he was in a tough spot when Taylor wasn’t retained, and Loyd hasn’t latched on with another basketball staff yet, to my knowledge.

Brad Autry — Autry was brought in by Taylor early in the 2014-15 season to fill the other assistant vacancy created when Taylor moved up to interim head coach. One always had the feeling his island gig was something of a stopover for him. Autry, a veteran assistant whose past stops included Tulsa and Marquette, has landed on his feet. He’s now an assistant at Southern Illinois of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Tim Bross — Bross did a lot of behind-the-scenes work for UH last season and helped steady a situation that could have fallen into disarray. He wasn’t technically the director of operations, but did a lot of those administrative tasks while Jamie Smith was still getting some visa issues resolved back in England. Bross has latched on with Darren Vorderbruegge as an assistant at Hawaii Pacific University.

Kerry Rupp — When Arnold brought in Rupp to be director of operations for the 2011-12 season, it was something of a curiosity. Rupp was coming off a lengthy tenure as head coach at Louisiana Tech, a team Hawaii went head-to-head against in the WAC at the time. Well, Rupp would last exactly one season before moving on as a full assistant at Montana under Wayne Tinkle. Rupp then moved over to Oregon State with Tinkle. During his one season as UH DOBO, some red flags were raised about the position being used to coach, which later surfaced in the form of an NCAA alleged violation against Arnold. By all indications, Rupp cooperated with the NCAA during the investigation process.

Walter Roese — Roese stepped down after exactly one season as the associate head coach under Arnold. It wasn’t overtly said, but it could be surmised that the two had creative differences about how to run a program (they hadn’t worked with each other prior to that season). Roese, a native of Brazil who has national team ties, was instrumental in bringing players Vander Joaquim and Christian Standhardinger to UH. He stepped away from the college game in the years since. He’s been the Latin America Sales Manager of Action Target, Inc., in Provo, Utah, for the last four years. His son, Leo, walked on at Gonzaga last year.

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College Summer League action resumes at the Manoa Valley District Park gym on Tuesday night (6 and 7:30 p.m.). I’ll be going for some UH player interviews. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the last two dates, last Thursday and Saturday, while fulfilling office duties.

If you need a refresher on standings, the league’s website is here.