College & HS Coaches

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Meet our

COACHING STAFF

Each of the coaches in our prestigious event are from some of the top college and high school programs in the country. Below are some of the coaches expected to join us in Hawaii for the Hawaii Hoopfest. There will also be outstanding high school coaches that are selected by our staff.

If you are a high school or college coach and are interested in bringing a team to the Hawaii Hoopfest, please contact us. Each coach is required to bring a team of at least 8 players to attend our event. Call us at 918-608-8800 for more info.

ZAC EXUME

Head Women’s Basketball Coach
St. Ambrose University – Iowa
Davenport, IA

The Hawaii Hoopfest is proud to announce the addition of coach Zac Exume to our coaching staff. We’re excited to have coaches Exume’s basketball expertise in Hawaii.

Coach Zac Exume is in his second season as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at St. Ambrose University. He was the head coach at Thomas University and an assistant at University of Arkansas at Monticello, Cincinnati Christian University and Miami University. He is also the author of the book “A Consistent and Successful Coaching Philosophy” published in 2017.

JOHN PUTYRSKI

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Florida State College at Jacksonville – Florida
Jacksonville, FL

John Putyrski is entering his second season leading the Florida State College at Jacksonville Men’s Basketball program after a historic first season in 2023-2024, where the team tied the most wins in school history (26) and advanced to its first ever national tournament in school history.

Coach Putyrski has also coached at University of Texas at Arlington, Illinois State University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Illinois State.

In his 13 years in college basketball, Putyrski has coached and worked with 44 players who have gone on to play professionally, including 13 at the NBA and G-League levels. He most notably led the 3-year on court development of 2021-22 Missouri Valley All-Conference leading scorer Antonio Reeves—a fellow Chicago native. Reeves went on to star at the University of Kentucky before being drafted 47^th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA Draft, assistant coach at Eastern Florida State College.

BILL TRIPLETT

Head Women’s Basketball Coach
Williston State College – North Dakota
Williston, ND

Bill Triplett is the head women’s basketball coach at Williston State College in Williston, North Dakota. With part of his 5th season at the helm of the Tetons underway, Coach Triplett’s current won/loss record at Williston State currently stands at 85 wins and 42 losses. Coach Triplett coached 10 years at Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota.

Triplett spent 28 years coaching at the high school level spanning back to 1980 where he started his basketball coaching career. Coach Triplett has taken his Montana high school teams to the state tournament eleven times, winning three state championships and finishing second another three times. His high school girls’ basketball coaching record in Montana is 433 wins and 52 losses and includes fifteen district championships, eight divisional championships and two state championships. Triplett also has a boys’ basketball record in Montana of 259 wins and 122 losses with seven district titles, two divisional championships and another state championship.

JESSICA EATON

Head Women’s Basketball Coach
Florida State College at Jacksonville – Florida
Jacksonville, FL

Jessica Eaton will enter her fourth year as a part of the women’s basketball program for Florida State College at Jacksonville. Eaton has been with the FSCJ women’s basketball team since 2021, handling recruiting, player development, and many of the team’s day-to-day operations.

Eaton stepped away from coaching for a few years to focus on her family and raising her children, but her basketball background runs deep in Central Florida. She last served as an assistant coach at Oviedo High School in 2015, junior varsity coach and varsity assistant coach at Hagerty High School from 2009-12, and started her career at Lyman High School in 2008. Eaton was also involved in the AAU circuit, having coached with the D.E.B.O. program from 2008-10 and worked for Winning Ways as the summer camp director from 2011-13.

DONNIE BOSTWICK

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK

“I have known the staff of the Hawaii Hoopfest for the past 24 years. They are awesome people who you can trust. I’ve traveled with them on this trip to Hawaii and I can tell you first hand that it will be a one of the highlights of your athletic career. They made it so easy to just coach my team while they took care of all the other details. I enjoyed getting to know not only the players on my team but players and coaches from other teams from all over the U.S.”

I look forward to traveling again this summer to the Hawaii HoopFest.”

Coach Bostwick’s team is currently ranked #1 in the Nation in the latest NAIA Poll. He has won two National Championships and been named National Coach of the Year in 2009.

JAYSON ARTAZ

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Bethel College
North Newton, KS

Jayson Artaz is in his seventh year as head coach of the Bethel men’s basketball program. Artaz has led the Threshers to five seasons of 20 wins or more while leading the team to a regular season conference championship in the 2020-21 season.

The overall win total of 136 makes him the winningest coach in Bethel College History. Artaz has also led the Threshers to the conference championship game and national tournament berths 4 of the last 5 years.

Coach Artaz graduated from Bethel College in 2005 with a degree in elementary education. As a player, Jayson was a 2nd Team All-Conference player in 2005 and a key contributor on the 2003 conference championship team and national tournament qualifier. He is still the program’s single-season three-point holder, draining 96 total in 2004-05. He and his wife Lauren (’07 BC graduate) reside in Newton with their children Payton and Landon.

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TROY THRASHER

Head Women’s Basketball Coach
Dallas College Richland
Dallas, TX

The Hawaii Hoopfest is excited to have coach Troy Thrasher bring his experience and expertise to the island with over 33 years of coaching.

Coach Thrasher is entering his 22^ndyear of college coaching. His overall coaching record is 303-154 and has had 21 All Conference Player’s, 13 All Region Player’s, 4 All American’s, 15 All League Player’s, 3 All State Player’s and in 2016 his team was Region IV Champions qualifying them for the National Tournament. He has experience abroad representing the USA in Ireland, Italy, Spain and Australia coaching Select basketball teams.

WESLEY PITTMAN

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Dyersburg State Community College
Dyersburg, TN

The Hawaii Hoopfest is excited to announce the addition of Coach Wesley Pittman to the Hoopfest Coaching staff!

Coach Pittman was hired as the head coach at Dyersburg State in May of 2025. He has been the associate head coach at Division 2 Limestone University from 2019-2025, spent two seasons as an assistant coach with Eastern Florida State College. During his time with the Titans, he helped lead the team to an overall record of 58-13 which included two Mid-Florida Conference Championships and an appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championship Final Four. Coach Pittman has also been a part of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and University of Florida Men’s Basketball Programs. Prior to his time at Eastern Florida, Pittman served one year as the video coordinator for the University. Pittman began his coaching career at Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trail, N.C. where he served as an assistant coach for the varsity basketball team.

TAE NORWOOD

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Palm Beach State College
Lake Worth, FL

The Hawaii Hoopfest is excited to add coach Tae Norwood to our coaching staff! Coach Norwood brings a lot of experience to the HHF staff from his 20 Years of collegiate basketball coaching.

Coach Norwood is the current Palm Beach State Head Men’s Basketball Coach. This last season Palm Beach State achieved a 21-11 record under Norwood after a successful 19-12 season the year before being his first at the helm. Other head coaching experience, Cal Poly Humboldt 2020-2023 and Keiser University 2019-2020. As a head coach, Norwood holds an impressive record 91-65.

Norwood spent six years at Lynn University and four years of Assistant Coaching experience at the Division 1 level including, Georgia Southern, Florida Gulf Coast (two seasons), and Grambling State. During that time, he assisted with all aspects of the programs including; recruiting, fundraising, player development, scheduling, scouting, travel, and budgeting. Coach Norwood also has four years of Assistant Coaching experience at the Division II level including, Northern Michigan, Florida Southern, and Bloomsburg.

KYLE PERRY

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Converse University
Spartanburg, SC

The Hawaii Hoopfest is excited to announce the addition of Coach Kyle Perry.
Coach Perry is the third head men’s basketball coach at Converse University. He comes to Converse after a successful stint as the Limestone University head basketball coach. Over the past six seasons, Perry has accumulated 52 total wins and 37 South Atlantic Conference wins for the Saints. Perry had four players (Ben Gahlert, Greg McKay, Isayah Owens, and Sirr Hughes) score 1,000 career points, and coached both Gahlert and Hughes to Second Team All-Conference selections.

With a lot of expertise, coach Perry has been a part of UNC Asheville, USC Upstate, South Carolina State, College of Charleston, Tennessee Tech, Carson-Newman University basketball programs.

T.J. ESKILDSEN

Head Men’s Basketball Coach
McPherson College
McPherson, KS

Coach Eskildsen enters his seventh season as the head coach of the Bulldog men’s basketball coach in 2025-26.

In his time as the head coach, Eskildsen has guided the Bulldogs to the KCAC Tournament in all but one season, including a KCAC Semi-final appearance in his first season at the helm. He led the Bulldogs back to the KCAC postseason in 2023-24. The Bulldogs won 12 of their first 14 games of the season, including a win over sixth-ranked Southwestern. In his inaugural season in 2019-20, the Bulldogs finished 21-11 overall and 15-9 in KCAC play. It was the program’s most wins since the 2011-12 season, and their 4th place finish in the KCAC standings was their highest mark since they won the conference that same year.

Prior to taking over the reins of the program, Coach Eskildsen spent nine seasons with the Bulldogs as an assistant coach under Tim Swartzendruber. During that time, the Bulldogs qualified for the NAIA Division II National Tournament four times (2010-2013), reaching the national semifinals in 2012. The Bulldogs also won a regular season conference championship (2011-12) and won two KCAC tournament championships (2012, 2013), with Coach Eskildsen on the bench.