James Toshio Yagi, the "Father of Small College Basketball in Hawai'i," passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 88 at Hilo Medical Center.

Coach Jimmy Yagi, a lifelong Hilo resident, was a community and University of Hawai'i at Hilo icon. He leaves behind wife Jeanne and sons Brady and Kirby.

"Coach Yagi is a beloved and iconic figure in the State of Hawai'i as a legendary coach, educator and mentor," Hawai'i Hilo director of athletics Patrick Guillen said. "He is a legend in the coaching profession and a giant of a human being. His passing is a tremendous loss for our community, but we know he leaves a legacy that will live on through all the lives he has touched."

Yagi fashioned a 252-126 career overall record and coached the very first Vulcan team to compete at the NAIA level in 1976-77. He took the Vulcans to the NAIA national tournament three times, and more importantly, put UH Hilo basketball on the map as the biggest game in town.

Games at the Civic often sold all 3,000 seats, and Yagi wasn't afraid to bring in Division I teams to the Big Island. That first season, the Vulcans shocked the basketball world by upsetting Division-I Nebraska and New Mexico, and they would go on to capture the NAIA District 2 title and play in the national tournament in Kansas City.

He roamed the sidelines for 12 seasons at UH Hilo and had 11 winning campaigns. Playoff games were often televised across the state.

"I was so honored to have had Coach Yagi in my life. He was my coach and later a coaching colleague, mentor and friend," former longtime Hawai'i Hilo baseball head coach Joey Estrella said. "Words cannot describe what he meant to me and the influence he had on my life in the most positive way. I will be forever grateful. Every time we worked together, he made me feel special. He was a pleasure to be around and influenced so many people. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten."

Yagi remains the winningest men's basketball head coach (against college teams) in UH-Hilo history with a 218-87 record (his first three seasons were prior to NAIA membership).

Yagi first began his coaching career as an assistant to Ramon Goya, who would later become the athletic director when Yagi took over as head coach. Yagi and Goya were instrumental in helping develop the UH Hilo athletics program and guiding its success in the NAIA as well as establishing the popular Vulcans Hawai'i Basketball School.

"A businessman turned coach, Jimmy found his real passion in coaching and teaching basketball. His dedication and commitment to basketball is second to none. For Jimmy, coaching went far beyond winning and losing. His genuine care and personal relationship with each individual made him special and led him to an accomplished and illustrious career. Basketball became his tool to teach life's skills to his players and the youth in his clinics," Goya said.

"As a friend, words cannot express the deep sense of loss I feel, but I find great comfort in knowing that his legacy will live on in our community and the many people he came in touch with."

That school is as much a part of Yagi's legacy as his coaching career. For six decades, he led camps across the islands, even as recently as the past few years, in what is now called the Jimmy Yagi Basketball Camp. Thousands of young players benefited from those positive gatherings, learning about basketball and life.

Bill O'Rear, who played for Yagi on those late 1970s teams and then went on to a long career as the sports editor at the Hawai'i Tribune-Herald, said "Coach Yagi told his fellow camp coaches: 'We teach everybody's children whether they can play basketball or not. It's all about teaching them the fundamentals of basketball and life. If we can help them believe a little more in themselves, hopefully it will carry on into other areas.'"

Yagi also taught in youth basketball camps in Europe, alongside Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.

The Yagi family also established the Coach Jimmy Yagi Scholarship at UH Hilo. "Sports can be such an important part of a student's education, but working to achieve academic excellence is also critically important," Yagi once said. "We believe Vulcan Athletics can help bring new focus to academic excellence and help to raise standards on campus at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo."

Coach and Jeanne also established the James S. and Kameko Yagi/Sadao and Bessie Y. Nishida Scholarship in honor of their parents, to benefit Big Island high school graduates attending UH Hilo. Coach and Jeanne were involved in many community civic groups and served as volunteers for many local organizations.

Jimmy Yagi is a 1957 alumnus of the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. A scholar-athlete himself, Yagi played basketball for UH Manoa and benefited from a scholarship which covered his tuition.

"Coach Yagi has been an inspirational figure for myself and so many of us here on the Big Island," said current Vulcan men's basketball head coach Kaniela Aiona. "He touched so many lives. His impact on this community will never be forgotten."

Coach was inducted into the inaugural UH Hilo Athletics Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame.