There was Merv Lopes, plainly in his element, drawing a crowd as usual, as he throw-net fished at the shoreline of the Waikoloa Resort.
The tourists that surrounded the former Chaminade University basketball coach did not know of his past and that they were talking with a local celebrity on that afternoon in the winter of 2001. That was all well and fine with him. Indeed, Lopes' second home was never a gymnasium but rather the ocean. Fishing was his way of relaxing.
Make no mistake about it, Lopes, who passed away at the age of 92 on May 8, was a brilliant coach, a man who proved time and time again he could take a team where it could not take itself. But to many, Lopes was known as a counselor, having spent 35 years as one with the Department of Education. He once explained to this author how he was trying hard to make a breakthrough with a young student named Joe. Whenever Joe got into trouble at school, a teacher would deposit him at Lopes' office. The coach seemed to know how to reach him the best, often taking an unorthodox approach, "This kid has everybody in his life on his case - his parents, his siblings, his aunts and uncles - how am I going to get through to this kid if I talk to him the way they do?" he said. One day, having dropped Joe off at Lopes' office, a teacher followed up later in the afternoon. "How did it go with Joe?" asked the teacher. "Great," said Lopes. "Joe and I went to Dunkin Donuts." The teacher was incredulous. "You and Joe went to Dunkin Donuts? You can't do that!"
"Well, that's what we did," said Lopes, who walked away.
When it came to coaching basketball, “In Merv We Trust” was the mantra. Lopes was already well-known in the local community from his time at Kailua and Kalāheo High Schools when he burst onto the college basketball scene like a meteor on December 23, 1982. That night, with much of the nation asleep, Lopes coached tiny Chaminade to a win over three-time Player of the Year Ralph Sampson and No. 1-ranked Virginia in what is considered the Greatest Upset in the History of College Basketball.
After a spirited celebration at Frank and Nick's in Discovery Bay, Lopes was asleep when he was awakened by the phone at 3:30 in the morning. It was the Chicago Sun-Times calling. That set the tone for a wild week on the Chaminade campus. The Silverswords and Lopes were front page news for the next several days and helped preserve the university's name. As of January 1, 1983, Chaminade was to be renamed the University of Honolulu. In the wake of the avalanche of publicity created by The Upset, the school's Board of Regents changed course.
The differences between Chaminade and Virginia were notable. Virginia in 1982 was a 163-year-old institution, with an enrollment of 16,400. Chaminade had been in operation for 25 years in 1982 and had an enrollment of 800. The Silverswords, who competed in NAIA, didn't even have their own gym, utilizing one that belonged to Saint Louis School, which shared the Kaimukī campus with Chaminade, and the school’s athletic department was housed in a wooden structure called The Shack.
As a coach, Lopes was considered before his time. By the early 1970s, when the practice of hiring team psychologists was beginning to become popular with professional sports teams, Lopes filled that role himself for his Chaminade teams, leading his players through daily meditations at practice and before games.
He was also known as a disciplinarian by his players, his emotions seemingly near the surface. Lopes' years on the football field at San Jose State and in the Navy had not been in vain, and his language could be vivid. "Some people misconstrued the vehemence with which he sometimes coached, but the players loved him," said Voice of the Silverswords, Gene Davis. "It was a little like with (former Indiana and West Point Coach) Bobby Knight."
A crowd of 3,383 had witnessed the Chaminade-Virginia game. Many more would claim to have been there afterward. On the court following the game, Virginia coach Terry Holland was asked by Hawai‘i-based reporter Jim Easterwood if Chaminade's win was the biggest upset in the history of college basketball?
"I can't remember a bigger one," said Holland. In later years, Holland would invariably introduce Lopes to others with the greeting, "I'd like you to meet the man I made famous!"
Six days before defeating Sampson and Virginia, Chaminade had beaten the University of Hawai‘i, the state's only Division I program, in what was considered the program's biggest win to that point. Three nights later, the Silverswords were upset themselves, losing to fellow NAIA member Panhandle State at home. "It was a perfect scenario, but that set the stage for two nights later," Chaminade Athletic Director Mike Vasconcellos was to say later.
The win over Sampson and Virginia made a local celebrity of Lopes, whose day job was then as a guidance counselor at Kalākaua Intermediate School in Honolulu. He was a part time employee at Chaminade in December of 1982, making $10,000 a year for his coaching duties.
Lopes' 1982-83 Chaminade team would compile a 33-5 overall record en route to a fourth-place finish at the NAIA Tournament. The shocking upsets kept coming for Lopes and the Silverswords. In December of 1983, Lopes led the Silverswords to a 72-63 upset of No. 14 Louisville. That Chaminade team would go on to a second straight NAIA Tournament appearance, where they were defeated in the Elite Eight by Chicago State. The following season, Lopes and Chaminade posted upset wins over Division I (No. 20) Louisville and (No. 4) SMU during a four-day span in December of 1984.
After games at McCabe Gymnasium, as fans streamed by either on foot or by car, Lopes could be found sitting in front of Henry Hall, outside the old Chaminade locker room, puffing on a cigar. My own lasting image of the coach is at the Waikoloa Resort, entertaining the tourists while fishing. Wouldn't it be great if he still could?
Jack Danilewicz has covered sports in Chicago and Honolulu since 1987.
