Khalilah Mitchell introduced as new University of Hawai‘i women's head basketball coach

MĀNOA — After conducting a national search for the next University of Hawai‘i women's basketball head coach, athletics director Matt Elliott realized the answer was in Mānoa the whole time.

Khalilah Mitchell was introduced as the ninth head coach in program history during a press conference at the Stan Sheriff Center's Ed Wong Hospitality Room on Wednesday morning, emerging as Elliott's top choice.

The process began with the surprise retirement of former UH head coach Laura Beeman, who retired after 14 seasons at the helm on March 30. Mitchell was an assistant coach under Beeman at UH for seven seasons across two different stints — the first was from 2018 to 2022, while the second began in 2023 and ended upon her recently accepting her first career head coaching gig.

Two thoughts crossed Mitchell's mind when Beeman broke the news to the team: the first was melancholy towards Beeman's departure from the program. Her second thought was that she wanted Beeman's job, a manifestation that came to fruition in recent days.

"I was in a meeting where she talked to us as a staff, and (Beeman) told us her reasons why, and we were all sad, right? Like, it's like our leader, our chief. We're sad, but we're happy for her, because she's doing something that's best for her," Mitchell recalled to Aloha State Daily following her introductory press conference. "Same meeting, 'Coach B, I'm applying for your job.' Same meeting. Both things are true for me. I can be sad and I am still sad about it, happy for her and her next journey, but also I want to make sure that I'm prepared for the opportunity, and I wanted everybody to know I'm committed to this, and that's what I did."

Over 60 current college coaches applied for the job. The crop consisted of a mix of assistant coaches, some coming from the Power 4, as well as active head coaches at the mid-major level. Elliott hosted the three final candidates on campus on Monday.

"My mind was really open to hiring the best person, the absolute best person, during the process," Elliott recalled to ASD. "We had met with every candidate and all the finalists, then we went into kind of those really deep conversations about what is the right choice."

Mitchell was sitting on her bench in her bedroom when Elliott called her on Monday night to offer her the job, which starts off with a three-year contract.

"I'm sitting on my bench, and honestly, I just started moving my feet really fast, like, 'Yes, yes, yes. I'll take it. Yes.' I was just so excited about the opportunity to represent the state and still be able to lead these girls," Mitchell said. "So, that was my reaction: just pure excitement and joy."

The more Elliott got to know Mitchell during the interview process, the more he was convinced she was the right choice. Elliott says each time they communicated, Mitchell was thoroughly prepared. He also said they were able to relate to each other in terms of wanting to raise their families in Hawai‘i. Mitchell lives on O‘ahu with her wife, Kim, and their daughter, Nola.

"I think I had a sense Khalilah was ready from the moment that we started this process," Elliott said. "How she demonstrated it over the course of a couple weeks, in every element, in every moment of taking it to the next level. What is your plan? How did you prepare? Show that, document it. I just kept getting more and more impressed.

"All of our candidates that we really vetted thoroughly, we wanted somebody who we believed this was the destination. That's how I feel myself, personally, about my job. So many of the great head coaches we have on our staff want to be here, and Khalilah wants to be in this place, so that was really critical."

Mitchell, a native of New Orleans, played collegiately for LSU from 2004 to 2008, reaching the Final Four each year she was on campus. She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCF from 2009 to 2011, then was the staff as a full-time assistant coach from 2011 to 2014. After moving to Mānoa in 2018, she's spent each season with the Rainbow Wahine since then, excluding the 2022-2023 season, when she was the top assistant at San Jose State.

A bevy of UH players and coaches were present to support Mitchell at her introductory press conference. It is there that she laid out her vision for what the product will look like on and off the court.

"Excellence here will not be accidental," she said. "It will be intentional, systemic and persistent. Rainbow Wahine basketball is going to be up-tempo, free-flowing and relentless, and it is going to be built on the foundation of aloha. That means we play for each other, we prepare like champions, and we represent the state with everything we have every single night. The foundation has been set. We're paying homage to that.

"Everything that was built before us, every standard that was established, every young woman who gave everything she had to wear this uniform, that matters. We honor it. We don't walk away from it. We will keep what got us here: the culture of hard work, the expectation of excellence, the pride in representing this university and the state. ... We will elevate our preparation, elevate our recruiting, elevate our game. We will be relentless in the pursuit of being better today than we were yesterday. That is not a criticism of the past, that is a commitment to the future."

Beeman sat alongside UH president Wendy Hensel during Mitchell's introduction, nodding along with pride at each point Mitchell was making. From standout freshman guard Bailey Flavell to veteran Jovi Lefotu, nobody voiced their approval for Mitchell louder than the players on the Rainbow Wahine roster on Wednesday.

"We were very happy. We were in the locker room yesterday, and when they brought her out, we were all cheering and excited, and we were really hoping it was her," Lefotu said. "She's really a player development coach. The relationship she builds with each and every one of us is unique, and she really cares about us as people and not just as athletes."

When the 2026-2027 season arrives in November, Mitchell will be the new head coach that leads the Rainbow Wahine through the transition of joining the Mountain West Conference. Her immediate future involves a 30-day plan in which she hopes hits the ground running. Among her top priorities is finalizing the team's roster via the NCAA transfer portal. Though players had until Monday to enter, the Rainbow Wahine already lost promising freshman guard Keiara Curtis to future conference opponent New Mexico.

"My job, literally, is to get to the transfer portal," Mitchell said. "I absolutely want to make sure that I get the right people here, then most importantly, getting to the community as much as I can and get with our boosters and donors."

Mitchell said she spent her Tuesday night responding to over 150 congratulatory text messages. The role of college head coach, especially in her first days of being one, promises to be hectic. But it's a life she wouldn't trade for anything.

"It means everything. It is a dream come true. To be a parent and a coach, I think, is super awesome. And the other thing is the community here," Mitchell said. "It's a place that I want to raise my daughter. It's a place where we feel safe, it's a place where we feel welcome, it's a place where people are supporting you, the community, and everybody's rooting for you, and those things are super important to me. This is a place now that I call home, and so to be able to do this is really special, which is why I just couldn't hold my excitement."

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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.