Langston relishes role on Wahine hoops staff

Even after weathering the whirlwind of a hiring process and relocating from Northern California to Hawaii, Brad Langston doesn’t mind some long hours in the office.

After being offered a spot on the Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s coaching staff, Langston landed in Honolulu on Sept. 1, went straight from the airport to the office for his first day of work under head coach Laura Beeman and was on the court that afternoon.

He’s since immersed himself in the teaching process while acclimating to his first Division I job as a UH assistant coach.

“It truly means the world to me,” Langston said. “I’m on California time and I still l wake up at 4 (a.m.). … I go work out, I’m here 5:30-6 in the morning. We don’t leave until 6 or 7 (p.m.) some days. I love it. I’m not tired. I never get tired because it doesn’t feel like work. I come here and do what I love to do every day, help kids grow on the court and grow off the court. It’s a beautiful thing.”

As a high school and club coach in Northern California, Langston focused on helping prepare players for the college level. As the newest addition to the Rainbow Wahine staff, he’s performing much the same role helping a young group of players get up to speed with Division I competition. As is often the case, the first step in the teaching process is an eagerness to learn.

“For me to be able to teach you have to learn,” Langston said. “I’m absorbing and learning (about) them off the court is just as important as on the court. I’d say even more so off the court, because what makes them tick, what makes them go, what makes them be the great kids that they are, I’m learning that every day.”

In the process of filling the last vacancy on the coaching staff following the offseason departures of assistant Dekita Williams and associate coach Mary Wooley, Beeman prioritized player development given the youth of the UH roster. Langston’s reputation for building skills convinced Beeman to give him a shot at the Division I level.

“I had quite a few people who called on his behalf, WNBA players, college players, college coaches, and they said the same thing, he makes young girls want to get better and get on the court,” Beeman said. “I was drawn to that.”

Langston coached with the Oakland Soldiers at the club level and at West Campus High School in Sacramento, Calif., where he served as an assistant under his father, John Langston. He also ran a training program in Evolution Skills Academy.

Along the way, he’s helped players rise in the national recruiting rankings and had the opportunity to connect with a range of college coaches during recruiting visits, picking up insights whenever the chance arose.

His new post gives him the opening to apply those tips at the college level for the first time and he’s starting by refining the basics.

The offseason program allows the coaches to work with players for about 2 hours per week leading up to the official start of practice on Oct. 3.

“Just working with small groups with guards and posts on skill development, trying to help them get better with their individual skills but also within the context of the offense and defense and how we’re going to run the schemes this year,” Langston said.

“We’re going to start at the basics, making sure everything is clicking right and fine tuned. With these kids it won’t take long, so we’ll be moving pretty quickly.”

Langston’s hiring finalized the coaching staff for the coming season. He joins assistant to the head coach Calamity McEntire as newcomers to the coaching staff while Alex Delanian was promoted from assistant to associate coach.

“For getting the hires as late as we’ve gotten them in, I couldn’t be more happy with the energy,” Beeman said, “how all of the staff has hit the ground running, how the kids have completely embraced the new members and how Brad has come in here and applied why I hired him to this team.”

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The returnees from last year’s Big West tournament championship team received rings commemorating their run to the NCAA tournament in March, which junior Sarah Toeaina and senior Briana Harris showed off in a post on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/NbMx4cO0Te

— Sarah Toeaina (@_SarahToe) September 7, 2016

Beeman said the cost of the rings was covered by a fundraiser held after the season with the aid of boosters and community members.

“Our boosters wanted to do rings and we felt it was very fitting and we’re very excited about that,” Beeman said.

While the rings represent a reward for last season’s achievements, they could also serve as inspiration for the newcomers to the program.

“I would hope it’s a little bit of motivation,” Beeman said. “If I’m watching my teammates wear this massive ring and know what it stands for, it’s sure going to give me some motivation to work really hard on and off the court so I can be the next class that gets the rings.”