As Dave Shoji sets to work in his 35th season at the University of Hawai'i, closing in on a milestone 1,000th victory, it is hard to imagine there was a day when he didn't get a volleyball coaching job he pursued.

It is harder still to picture the Rainbow Wahine head coaching post as a hot potato job, almost a consolation prize after not getting a coveted high school position.

Yet, Rainbow Wahine volleyball history might be a lot different today, perhaps a few national championship banners short in the Stan Sheriff Center rafters, if Punahou School had hired the then-28-year-old Shoji for the boys volleyball head coaching job for which he interviewed.

"I think everyone can flash back and there's always a fork or direction in the road where you wonder, 'If I had taken that path where would I be at his point in time?' " said Shoji, who is 984-173-1 at UH.

In mid-1975 Shoji was at a career crossroads having worked as a varsity assistant and junior varsity coach with high school basketball and volleyball teams, including Kalani and Punahou, while seeking a master's degree.

So, too, was it a telltale time for the fledgling Rainbow Wahine program that Alan Kang had coached in its inaugural 1974 season. Kang had left and Chris McLachlin, a brief, interim coach, also moved on.

Shoji didn't get the job at Punahou, where they wanted a coach who would also join the faculty, recalls Paul Wysard, then an administrator. "Dave and I chatted for a while that day and I asked him if he was exploring anything else," Wysard said. " 'Well, UH wants to develop the women's program and I've talked to them,' " Wysard recalls Shoji as saying.

"I was a bit surprised," Wysard said. " 'Really?' I asked (him). They want to go deeper into that?' "

Now, Wysard can laugh from the perspective of history. "Can you imagine such questions today? Or even 20 years ago?" he said.

Shoji's first UH job paid approximately $18,000 and included doubling up as an academic advisor, he recalls. A salary that would have been less than a Punahou teacher-coach combination. Not for several more years was he a full-time women's coach at UH.

"He (Shoji) was disappointed when he didn't get our job, but I wouldn't even dare to guess about the status of (the Rainbow Wahine) if he had," Wysard said. "Fans who have come on board over the past quarter century or so probably have no idea that Dave brought the program to where it is from what was an experiment ... "

Shoji and Wysard have played golf on occasion over the years, each time Wysard says, "I can't help but think that 'non-selection' was the best one with which I've ever been involved."