Hilo, Hawaii – It wasn’t too long ago that Bill Trumbo was flipping hot dogs and burgers at University of Hawaii at Hilo home games and running the seven-sport Vulcan athletic department.
The veteran coach/administrator returns to Hilo for the upcoming AmeriSport Coconut Coast Classic, December 14-17 in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
This time around, he’ll be with the California State University-Monterey Bay Otters as its basketball coach/athletic director.
“We are NAIA II at this point and members of the California Pacific Conference,” Trumbo said. “We are in an exploratory year with the NCAA and will be a scheduling affiliate with the CCAA and be in our first year of provisional membership in the NCAA beginning next year.”
At CSU-MB, he runs a ten-sport program but admittedly, “none are funded at close to what the Division II requirements hold,” Trumbo said.
As athletic director at the UH Hilo, Trumbo guided the Vulcan program through the same process. By 1994, the department became full members of the NCAA Division II ranks and the Pacific West Conference.
“My ten years at Hilo was one of the most rewarding experiences in my professional and personal life,” Trumbo said. “I really felt I made a positive contribution to a place that had provided so much for me and for many of the players who I continue to hold dear. I had a passion for the enhancement of our athletic program and feel I was able to make a difference in the lives of many young people. I continue to feel a strong sense of pride in the legacy I was able to create with the variety of start up programs initiated during my 10 years, but also proud of being able to honor the past history of the program.”
During his UH Hilo tenure, he initiated Vulcan Athletes Leading Through Example (V.A.L.T.E.), the Student Assistance Program and the City Bank/Vulcan Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also a key factor in the development of the Annual Vulcan Athletic Fund Drive which generated additional operational and scholarship funds and Division I basketball tournaments on the Big Island.
A chance meeting at the California State Junior College Tournament with former UH Hilo basketball coach Jimmy Yagi and athletic director Ramon Goya started the long-lasting relationship with the Hilo community.
“My first impressions were that the Hilo program was able to surround a small college program with a big-time support group and atmosphere,” Trumbo said. “The involvement of the community was a key reason I chose to encourage the young men from our program and others to attend.
“Many of the young men were the finest young men from our program not just from a basketball standpoint but also young men of outstanding character.”
Over the next nineteen years, Trumbo helped at various Vulcan basketball camps as a lead instructor and offered to help the Vulcan program by introducing coaches and serving as an advisor to the program’s development.”
He finally brought a team to Hilo to compete against the Vulcans in Yagi’s final year as head coach. His 1984-85 University of Idaho Vandals won 71-65.
“It was a fun experience to bring our team from Idaho to Hilo,” Trumbo said. “It was a competitive challenge to have a team play well enough to win over a good college program. And the current feeling is similar at this juncture.
“Although coming in now we are in an underdog role.”
The Vulcans (5-2) host the Otters (1-5) in the opening game of the AmeriSport Coconut Coast Classic in a 7:15 p.m. game on Sunday, December 14 in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
In this game, Trumbo will be facing his own hand-picked prodigy. Trumbo gave Jeff Law the opportunity, and his first head coaching job, to turn around the Vulcan basketball program. In six years, Law has taken the program to the top of the conference and the NCAA Division II post-season.
“I am very pleased with how Jeff has done and see his hiring as a great sense of pride for me,” Trumbo said. “Jeff is a good friend and I think his leadership of the program has placed Hilo in the upper echelon of the West Region Division II programs.”
A coach at heart, Trumbo is back on the sidelines he loves and committed to the career he chose.
“I will get a foundation built and retire in a few years to the Big Island,” Trumbo said. “When, I am not sure. Just like the Energizer bunny, I just keep ticking.”
