Overview:
KOROR, Palau — For Angaur basketball coach Kaeb Udui, the game has never been just about winning. Despite a rough season at this year's Belau Games — no wins, a shrinking roster, and a team that almost fell apart before it started — Udui says the five players who stuck it out taught him what coaching youth basketball is really about.
By: Laurel Mariwebuel
KOROR, Palau (August 4, 2026) – For Kaeb Udui of Angaur, basketball has never been only about the scoreboard. It has been about learning, discipline and giving younger players the same kind of guidance that shaped him.
Udui said what inspired him to coach was “the love of the game.” He added, “I’m an athlete myself, not professional, but I grew up wanting to win.” He said a coach from his youth played a major role in shaping the way he sees the sport, recalling how that coach led his team “from bottom all the way becoming champions” and taught them not just how to play basketball, but how to be team players.
He also pointed to several people who influenced him to coach younger generations, naming Rayson King, Sen. Sungino, the late Logan Ngiriou and Arvan Subris. Their example, he said, helped push him toward working with the next wave of players in his community.
This year’s Belau Games brought challenges, Udui said, but also moments that showed why he stayed committed. He said the team did not make the finals and did not win a game, and before the games began, he even thought about quitting because the group was dealing with many problems. He said there were 15 players on the list, but by game time, many had pulled out because of different issues and the team did not receive full support from the state it represented.
Still, Udui said the few players who kept going through the hard times gave him reason to continue. Only five showed up by game time, and those five played both games. “Even though we lost I see as a win,” he said, because the young men “played from the beginning to the end as a team.”
One of his strongest memories from this year’s Belau Games, he said, was seeing young children play hard and arrive at games with enthusiasm. Looking ahead, he said he is not focused on the next 10 years but on what he can do now to keep young men from his neighborhood healthy, training daily and away from bad habits while they wait for the next basketball tournament, which he hopes will happen soon.