Tony Tuioti is the Warriors Director of Player Personnel

About being hired at the Warriors' director of player personnel (serving as a coordinator for academics and recruiting), Tony Tuioti said:
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with coach Mack and the other coaches," Tuioti said. "They're great guys." (HA)

HA Note: "The Warriors have not had a recruiting coordinator since Bob Wagner's tenure, when Jim Cochran filled that role for a season. Cochran, now a scout for the New York Jets, was part of the coaching staff. Tuioti will be assuming a non-coaching position. With the demands of the NCAA's Academic Progress Report, which penalizes schools for failing to meet minimum scores, McMackin wanted a person to oversee the Warriors' classroom performances."

About the impact that the APR has had on recruiting, Tuiti said:
"The APR changed the way you recruit. A recruit can't just be the best athlete. He has to be a good athlete with good grades. I want to help set a standard here, that recruiting will be big and academics will be big. I want that to be the culture of our program." (HA)

HA Note: "McMackin described Tuioti as one of the keys to the Warriors' 9-4 season in 1999. Tuioti stayed on as a graduate assistant, a position that allowed him to earn a master's degree in administration. Tuioti was Kalaheo High's head coach in 2003 and 2004. His staff included former UH players Craig Stutzmann, Thero Mitchell, Jake Espiau, Alapai Andrews and Matt Wright. Tuioti and his family moved to Las Vegas in the spring of 2005. He then earned a master's degree in special education at Nevada-Las Vegas."

Tuioti said that the importance of education is:
"something that's been imbedded by my parents since I was small. ... I knew education would be a key for me, and it has been. There have been a lot of people who have helped me out." (HA)

HA Note: "Tuioti has served as defensive coordinator at Las Vegas' Silverado High School. In last year's playoffs, his team faced Chaparral High, whose offensive coordinator is Paul Nihipali, Tuioti's father-in-law."

About facing his father-in-law in the playoffs year, Tuioti said with a laugh:
"It was a little family feud. We didn't let the kids go to grandpa's house that week." (HA)

About how he and his wife Keala (a former UH volleyball player) have 6 children, Tuioti said:
"There are no more seat belts in the Yukon." (HA)