David M. Nakama (born August 9, 1962) in an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach and former

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

, who is current hitting coach for the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

. Nakama previously has been head coach at junior colleges

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

and

Treasure Valley The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural east ...

, Division II

San Francisco State San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is part of the Califor ...

, and Division I

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Early life and education

Born in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Nakama graduated from Kaiser High School. He moved to Oregon to attended

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

and played at infielder for the Willamette Bearcats baseball team. Nakama graduated from Willamette in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned a master's in the same subject from the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has offi ...

in 1986.

Coaching career

Nakama was an assistant coach at

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

from 1985 to 1986 while working on his master's degree. He later was an assistant at

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

(1987 to 1988), then moved to the junior college as an assistant at

Yavapai The Yavapai ( ) are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Their Yavapai language belongs to the Upland Yuman branch of the proposed Hokan language family. Today Yavapai people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes: * Fort ...

(1989 to 1990) and De Anza (1991). In 1991, Nakama earned his first head coaching position at Mission College in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

, where he remained for five seasons. He led Mission to the state junior college tournament in 1995 and 1996 and earned

Coast Conference The Coast Conference is a college athletic conference that is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association. Its members are primarily based in the Southern San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly ...

Coach of the Year honors in 1996. Nakama joined

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

as an assistant coach under

Mark Marquess Mark Edward Marquess (born March 24, 1947) is an American college baseball coach. He served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal baseball team from 1977 to 2017. Early life and professional baseball career Born and raised in Stockton, Cali ...

in 1997. From 1999 to 2001, Nakama served as head coach at

. Nakama returned to the Pac-12 as top assistant at Stanford, before moving to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Nakama then returned to Stanford as assistant coach, a position he would hold from 2002 to 2009, then was an assistant on

Lindsay Meggs Lindsay Ross Meggs (born September 2, 1962) is an American baseball coach who is currently an assistant coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins from 1981 to 1984. He then served as the head co ...

's staff at

from 2010 to 2012. Meggs formally named Nakama the associate head coach on September 2, 2011. In September 2012, Nakama was named head coach at San Jose State, his first Division I head coaching job. Nakama's time at San Jose State ended in June 2016, following a 66–162 record in four seasons; San Jose State declined to renew Nakama's contract. On July 24, 2017, Nakama returned to Washington to be a volunteer assistant coach for his second stint working under Lindsay Meggs. Following the 2019 season, Nakama was promoted to director of baseball operations.

Head coaching record

The following lists Nakama's record as an NCAA head baseball coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakama, Dave 1962 births Baseball coaches from Hawaii American baseball players of Japanese descent Baseball players from Honolulu De Anza Dons baseball coaches Hawaii people of Japanese descent Hawaii Rainbow Warriors baseball coaches Iowa Hawkeyes baseball coaches Living people Mission Saints baseball coaches Northern Colorado Bears baseball coaches San Francisco State Gators baseball coaches San Jose State Spartans baseball coaches Stanford Cardinal baseball coaches Treasure Valley Chukars baseball coaches University of Northern Colorado alumni Washington Huskies baseball coaches Willamette Bearcats baseball players Yavapai Roughriders baseball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen