Less than a month after the school honored him with a "night" for past accomplishments as its basketball coach, Tony Sellitto has stepped out of a six-year retirement to try and add to his rich Hawai'i Pacific University legacy.

The 69-year-old Sellitto, who guided the Sea Warriors from 1988 to 2002, replaces Darren Vorderbruegge, who was head coach and athletic director the past two seasons. HPU said Vorderbruegge, who was 8-19 this season, will remain as AD.

When Sellitto retired in 2002 with a 298-171 record and an NAIA national championship (1993), he was the winningest college basketball coach in the state, a distinction now held by Brigham Young-Hawai'i's Ken Wagner (341-171), who he will coach against again in the PacWest Conference.

Sellitto's retirement came after a series of health problems but the school said he "is fully recovered from the health issues." Sellitto said: "I'm real good now. I walk from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every day. I don't have a car."

Of his return to the sidelines, Sellitto said, "I wanted to get off my (butt) and do something." After being a fan and occasional TV commentator during his retirement, Sellitto added: "I wanted to see if I could have an (impact) again."

Sellitto said in a statement, "When I retired in 2002, I never thought about returning to coaching at any level, but I did stay close to the local basketball programs because basketball is in my blood. I always loved working with young people and helping them succeed as athletes and in life."

He said he plans to bring back several former stars, including Francis Fletcher and James Williams, as assistant coaches and hopes to heavily recruit local high schools.

Before coming to HPU, Sellitto spent 23 years at Maryknoll, where he won a state championship (1984) and directed the Spartans to three consecutive "A" division titles.

At HPU, Sellitto took the Sea Warriors to seven NAIA Tournaments. In 14 seasons at HPU, Sellitto had 12 winning seasons. In February, the school honored him with "Tony Sellitto Night."

"It was not a hard decision to offer Coach Sellitto the HPU position in 1988 and I was extremely pleased when he accepted it then and equally happy that he's agreed to return," HPU President Chatt Wright said in a statement.