Associate Head Coach Jeff Hironaka has played a vital role in the improvement of the Portland State program the past three seasons. The Vikings improved by nine wins during his first year in the program (2013-14), reached the Big Sky Tournament semifinals and made an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com post-season tournament.
Hironaka, a long-time college basketball coach in the Pacific Northwest, is highly regarded by his peers and an excellent appointment to Geving’s staff. He takes a lead role in practices and in game-night huddles, and is well-respected by the players.
Hironaka, formerly an assistant at Washington State, has spent more than 20 seasons as a coach at northwest schools, as well as being an assistant on a previous staff with Geving at Seattle Pacific. Hironaka worked under Ken Bone at Seattle Pacific from 1991-2002. He and Geving were assistants together at SPU in 2000-01. Hironaka then took over as Head Coach at Seattle Pacific when Bone left for an assistant position at Washington. Hironaka was Head Coach from 2002-09, compiling a 134-67 record and leading the Falcons to five NCAA II playoff appearances.
Hironaka, who worked with Bone for 11 years at SPU, then took an assistant coaching position on Bone’s staff at Washington State in 2009. Hironaka spent three seasons as an assistant coach at WSU and for the past season was Director of Player Development/Special Assistant to the Head Coach. Hironaka assisted in WSU’s run to the NIT Semifinals in New York in 2011, as the team went 3-1 in the tournament.
“I’m very excited to get someone of Jeff’s caliber here at Portland State,” said Geving. “Anytime you can get someone with head coaching experience and with the success he had at Seattle Pacific, you know he will really help your program. He is one of the most respected coaches in the northwest and really elevates our staff.
“In all my years of coaching, he has probably been one of the four or five guys I have looked up to as a coaching mentor. Getting him on our staff is big for our program and big for me,” said Geving.
While Head Coach at Seattle Pacific, Hironaka led the Falcons to back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles in 2006 and 2007. The 2006 team won 26 games en route to a national semifinal appearance, matching the best NCAA Tournament performance in school history. Hironaka was also on the staff during the Falcons’ previous Final Four run in 2000.
Hironaka joined Bone’s SPU staff in 1991 and became the associate head coach in 1996. During his 18-year tenure on the coaching staff, the Falcons went 370-154, earned seven outright or shared conference championships and qualified for NCAA Division II Tournament berths 13 of the final 16 years. Hironaka’s 11-year run as Bone’s chief aide was the longest of any assistant in program history.
A two-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Hironaka was also the 2006 NABC West Region Coach of the Year. SPU registered a winning record in each of Hironaka’s seven seasons, including a 20-9 mark in 2005.
Hironaka has more than 20 years of bench experience and an extensive network of contacts in the college game. Before going to SPU, he served on the staff at Idaho State from 1987-90, and later was an assistant coach and assistant athletic director at The Master’s College in Newhall, CA. While at Idaho State he completed his master’s in sports administration.
A native of Weiser, Idaho, Hironaka began coaching in 1980 at his high school as the junior varsity coach and varsity assistant coach. In 1986 he became head coach at Idaho’s Ririe High School and moved to Blackfoot High the following year.
Hironaka was an accomplished player, lettering three seasons at Eastern Oregon, where he obtained his degree in secondary education in 1980. He was a member of the team’s coaching staff in 1979-80. At Weiser High he was an All-Snake River Conference guard.
THE JEFF HIRONAKA FILE
4th year at Portland State
Hometown: Weiser, ID
Alma Mater: Eastern Oregon, 1980, Secondary Education; Idaho State, 1990, Masters, Sports Administration
COACHING EXPERIENCE
2013-16 Portland State, Associate Head Coach
2012-13 Washington State, Dir. of Player Development
2009-12 Washington State, Assistant Coach
2002-09 Seattle Pacific, Head Coach (134-67)
1996-02 Seattle Pacific, Associate Head Coach
1991-96 Seattle Pacific, Assistant Coach
1990-91 The Master's College, Assistant Coach/AD
1987-90 Idaho State, Assistant Coach
1986-87 Blackfoot High School, Head Coach
1985-86 Ririe High School, Head Coach
1980-85 Weiser High School, Varsity/JV Coach
1979-80 Eastern Oregon, JV Coach
