HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii basketball community has lost a Hall of Famer.
Iconic Chaminade University basketball coach Merv Lopes has died at the age of 92.
Lopes was the engineer of a victory considered among the greatest upsets in the sport when his Silverswords stunned top-ranked Virginia in 1982.
The win had ripple effects still felt today as it led to the eventual creation of the Maui Invitational.
Lopes is the winningest coach in school history with 238 victories over 12 years.
“He’ll forever be remembered here. He was such a great coach,” said Chaminade head men’s basketball coach Eric Bovaird. “I have so many of his former players come back and just tell me different stories of some of his interesting coaching philosophies. Whatever he did, however he did it, he got his guys to play hard. He got his guys to play really smart. He’ll forever be a legend here.”
Bovaird says the team is planning a tribute for the longtime coach at this year’s Maui Invitational.
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