Former associates, Jacobsen, Montgomery rejoin Rainbows’ staff

Hawaii basketball coach Eran Ganot is bringing along some familiar faces as the Rainbow Warriors prepare for this summer’s move to the Mountain West Conference.

Former UH associate head coaches Adam Jacobsen and John Montgomery are joining the ’Bows’ coaching staff as assistant coaches. Former UH player Noah Allen also has been hired as an assistant coach.

In another move, assistant coach Gibson Johnson is being promoted to associate head coach. In addition to his coaching, Johnson has served as recruiting director the past two years. Johnson played for the Rainbow Warriors for two seasons through 2018.

The staff includes general manager Patty Mills, assistant coach Clay Wilson, director of player development Juan Munoz and graduate manager Jake Nishimura.

“We’re fired up,” Ganot said. “We’re really excited. We have a proven track record for having great coaches. We’ve lost a couple great coaches and we’re adding some great coaches.”

Jacobsen, who coached at Utah Valley the past two seasons, and Montgomery, who was at Long Beach State for two years, initially joined the Rainbow Warriors as assistant coaches in 2015. That 2015-16 season — Ganot’s first as UH head coach — the ’Bows won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in the program’s history. The ensuing summer, Jacobsen was promoted to associate head coach. Jacobsen departed for Cal Baptist in 2019. Two years later, Montgomery was named associate head coach.

Ganot has not assigned specific coaching duties. But the ’Bows were looking to fill vacancies with the departures of offensive coordinator Brad Davidson to USC and defensive coach Rob Jones to Saint Mary’s.

Jacobsen was considered one of the primary architects of the four-out, quick-passing offense that the ’Bows ran successfully during his UH tenure. This past season, Utah Valley led the WAC in scoring (80.1 points per game) and assists (18.5).

“I’ve done that for all my career,” Jacobsen said of running offenses. “Next year will be my 27th year coaching, which will be crazy when I think about that. Coaching offense is something I’ve done a long time. I love studying offense.”

Montgomery was instrumental in maintaining “the wall,” the ’Bows’ defensive scheme of pressuring the perimeter, narrowing the driving lane, and helping out in the post. Under Montgomery, the ’Bows were among the Big West’s best in field-goal defense and rebounding. He was Long Beach State’s offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Two years ago, Montgomery left UH for Long Beach State, in part for family reasons. His sister was facing medical issues, and his parents lived about an hour from the LBSU campus. His wife, Hannah, a former UH beach volleyball player, had relatives in Long Beach and San Diego. Montgomery’s sister died three months after the move.

“It feels like we’re headed back home,” said Montgomery, whose wife was born on Kauai. “I think sometimes change is good, but I miss being in Hawaii and being part of that program. My wife always said she wanted to raise our kids in Hawaii. I’m super excited to head back. I think the program’s in a great spot right now. A lot of momentum coming off an NCAA Tournament run and going into the Mountain West. Everything is in a really good place. We’re ecstatic to be coming home.”