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Josh Walker now has a national coaching award to go along with a national award as a player.
The former All-American and current Hawai’i assistant coach on Wednesday was named the 2019 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Walker helped guide the Rainbow Warriors to a program-record 28 wins during the 2019 season, including the team opening the season winning 74 consecutive sets as part of a 25-match winning streak. In addition, Hawai’i won the Big West championship and for the first time since 2002 advanced to the NCAA Tournament finals.
This was Walker’s fourth season on the Hawai’i coaching staff. The Rainbow Warriors have finished each of those seasons nationally ranked and have twice advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Walker first joined the Rainbow Warriors as a player for the 2008 season. The 2010 Second-Team All-American also concluded his college career fifth in school history with 1,428 career kills.
Walker is the first Hawai’i coach to earn this honor since the AVCA debuted the coaching award in 2010.
The AVCA typically announces the National Coach of the Year and National Assistant Coach of the Year before the NCAA Tournament semifinals in May. However, the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Awards Committee in April opted to postpone presenting its annual coaching awards because of a pending investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSports.
Walker was not among the individuals involved in the SafeSports investigation. The AVCA in a statement in April announced it will present the 2019 National Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the SafeSports investigation