University of Hawai’i head women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman has announced her retirement from coaching. Beeman, the eighth head coach in program history, departs after 14 seasons at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine. She will remain with the university to lead the program during the transition period until a new head coach is named.
“Laura Beeman‘s impact on this program and this university cannot be overstated,” said UH Athletics Director Matt Elliott. “She has consistently maintained a standard of excellence that places her among the very best coaches in the history of UH Athletics. We thank her for her unwavering commitment to this university and for developing a generation of Rainbow Wahine basketball student-athletes.”
During the 2025-26 season, Beeman guided the Rainbow Wahine to a 22-11 overall record and a 14-6 mark in Big West Conference play, finishing fourth in the standings. The season concluded a five-year run in which the program maintained a consistent presence at the top of the conference, including a 22-10 record and a regular-season title the previous year.
Beeman finishes her tenure at UH with an all-time coaching record of 244-180 (.575). Her 244 victories rank second in program history, trailing only Vince Goo. In conference play, she amassed a 160-79 (.669) record, further solidifying her status as one of the most successful coaches in the Big West era.
“Representing the University and state of Hawai’i has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Beeman said. “I am incredibly grateful to the student-athletes, administrators, and the people of Hawai’i who made this an unbelievable ride. It is with a full heart I hand my whistle over to the next coach of the Rainbow Wahine.”
Under Beeman’s leadership, the Rainbow Wahine achieved several historic milestones. She led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2022 and 2023) and nine total postseason berths. In 2022, she directed the team to both the Big West regular-season and tournament championships in the same season, a feat never before accomplished in program history.
Her career at UH was marked by consistent excellence, resulting in four Big West Coach of the Year honors (2015, 2022, 2024 and 2025). Beeman’s teams captured four Big West regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships during her 14-year stay in Honolulu.
Throughout her tenure, Beeman developed some of the most decorated student-athletes in program history, coaching more than two dozen All-Big West selections. Among them was 2021-22 Big West Player of the Year Amy Atwell, who concluded her career as the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made and was selected in the 2022 WNBA Draft. Beeman also mentored multi-time all-conference honorees such as Kamilah Jackson, Sarah Toeaina, Shawna-Lei Kuehu, Amy Atwell and Lily Wahinekapu.
In addition to on-court success, Beeman’s programs were defined by academic excellence. The Rainbow Wahine recently set a program-record multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 995 and have frequently posted perfect single-year scores of 1,000. The program posted a 3.49 team GPA in the fall semester.
Prior to her arrival at UH in 2012, Beeman won four state championships at Mt. San Antonio College and served as an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and at USC.
The university will begin a national search for her successor immediately.
