HONOLULU — Charlie Wade doesn’t have to squint to see a storm on the horizon.
Even as the Hawaii men’s volleyball program leader accepted his third career Big West Coach of the Year honor on Tuesday — a little more than a week out from his second-ranked, second-seeded team’s NCAA Tournament opener in Ohio — he was keen to weigh in on a destabilizing event in the sport.
Grand Canyon University, a Division I member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in men’s volleyball, announced on its Instagram account on Monday that its 17-year program was being converted from a varsity sport to a club sport.
What You Need To Know
- University of Hawaii men’s volleyball head coach Charlie Wade was named the Big West Coach of the Year on Tuesday for the third time in the last four years
- Wade commented on Grand Canyon University’s decision to discontinue its men’s volleyball program effective immediately, saying he thinks it will be the first of many moves by schools grappling with how to fund athletic departments on the cusp of the House v. NCAA settlement that will allow schools to directly pay student-athletes and increase scholarships
- UH is preparing to head to the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, next week with its quarterfinal against either Penn State or Daemen on May 8
- Meanwhile, UH players Finn Kearney, Tread Rosenthal, Justin Todd and Kainoa Wade were named to the USA Volleyball U21 national team for competitions this summer
“It’s unfortunate, obviously, for men’s volleyball, but I think it’s what I’ve said all along,” Wade told Spectrum News at a meet-and-greet event for the Braddahhood Grindz NIL collective at Giovanni Pastrami in Waikiki. “Men’s Olympic sports are going to be the first ones on the chopping block.”
The GCU announcement — with comments on the post turned off — came as universities are grappling with how to fund sports with increased scholarship allotments and the ability to directly pay student-athletes with the pending House v. NCAA settlement.
GCU posted: “In a rapidly evolving college athletics landscape, GCU is constantly evaluating how it can best position itself as a Division I athletic department and a university. The move will allow GCU to focus on supporting its remaining 20 athletics programs at the highest levels in their respective conferences.”
The Antelopes won the MPSF in 2024.
The Phoenix school, a former member of the PacWest Conference, said it will continue to honor athletics scholarships to impacted student-athletes who wish to finish their academic careers there, but would also help those looking to transfer.
The announcement coincided with the start of the spring window of the NCAA men’s volleyball transfer portal. A feeding frenzy ensued.
“I think all the coaches thought, who can they get? Which good players are going to be in the market?” Wade said. “And look, I talked to one of the (GCU) coaches there today, and I think we all empathize with them, but … it wasn’t if, it’s when. It’s going to be more of this coming. This is just the beginning. I will be shocked if over the next two, three years, we don’t see more (schools) cut men’s volleyball.”
Grand Canyon, like UH, is set to become a full member of the Mountain West Conference in 2026. UH is to remain an affiliate member of the Big West in men’s volleyball, a sport that had 27 Division I institutions at the time of GCU’s decision.
Wade pointed out that it’s not just men’s volleyball at risk — Cal Poly cut its men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs in March — as schools begin to invest more heavily in a smaller number of sports.
“I’d say it’s the state of collegiate athletics in 2025,” he said. “Grand Canyon has money. You got to be judicious on which sports you’re going to support. And reality is, you’re going to see athletic departments become smaller because the cost of doing business keeps going up. So you can’t have 20-something, even some of the departments with 30-something sports — I think you’re going to see those come down.”
Wade’s conference coach of the year honor was his third in the last four years.
He became UH’s career program wins leader at last week’s Big West tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors (26-5) won both of their matches for the title; the semifinal win over UC Irvine broke Wade’s tie with Mike Wilton and gave him his 317th victory.
Long Beach State setter Moni Nikolov was named the Big West’s Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. LBSU was given the No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection.
“Individual (awards) goes towards guys are on successful teams, whether you’re the player, the coach, whatever,” Wade said. “When your team’s being successful, those are the guys are in line to get individual awards. So that happens to be the case right now, and I think we’d all trade any of the individual awards for the trophy that’s being handed out (May 12) in Columbus.”
UH opens the Ohio State-hosted tournament May 8 against the play-in winner of Penn State and Daemen.
4 UH players picked to U.S. junior national team
USA Volleyball on Tuesday selected four Hawaii players to its 2025 U21 Men’s National Team that will compete in the Pan American Cup and FIVB Championship this summer.
Setter Tread Rosenthal, pin hitters Finn Kearney and Kainoa Wade and middle Justin Todd were named to the 24-player roster. All had some degree of prior experience with the national team.
In addition, Punahou alumnus Kahale Clini of UCLA was named to the team. UCLA coach John Hawks will lead the group.
The U21 Pan Am Cup takes place in Calgary, Canada, from Aug. 3-11. Training for it will happen July 27-Aug. 2 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U21 FIVB tournament takes place right afterward, with training Aug. 7-17 in Colorado Springs and the competition in Jiangmen, China, Aug. 19-Sept. 1.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
