Herman Frazier waited nearly five years before getting to make his first — and only — major hire as University of Hawaii athletic director, basketball coach Bob Nash.

Jim Donovan didn’t make one until two years in as AD, Gib Arnold.

In two years, Ben Jay never got to make any.

Now along comes David Matlin, who is poised to hire a men’s basketball coach before he officially takes a seat. Talk about getting an early read on a new administration — this will be a speed read heretofore unseen at UH in the Division I era.

Never before in Manoa has an AD made a major hire before he has so much as staked out a parking spot or ordered a new set of business cards.

Matlin, who was announced last week as Jay’s successor, officially takes the reins April 27, and has said he hopes to have a coach named well before then.  

Just as athletes are remembered for the plays they make and coaches are celebrated for the championships they bring, ADs are largely defined by the coaches they hire — and fire.

Facilities are important, budgets critical and schedules noteworthy, of course. But little is so inextricably tied to ADs over the years as much as the hires they make. Notably the big ticket ones. 

Of such choices are legacies made, bottom lines balanced and, yes, contracts extended.

The late Ray Nagel was proud that Dick Tomey and Dave Shoji came aboard on his watch. Likewise, the late Stan Sheriff touted the arrivals of Bob Wagner, Riley Wallace, Vince Goo and Bob Coolen in his tenure. Hugh Yoshida pointed to the hiring of June Jones. Donovan has beamed at the choice of Laura Beeman. 

On the flip side, they also hired Milo Griffin, Frank Arnold, Fred vonAppen and Gib Arnold, respectively.

ADs understandably are more comfortable having their own men — or women — in key positions. They feel and expect a degree of loyalty sometimes not reciprocated in relationships with coaches they have inherited.

Matlin, depending on how the upcoming football season plays out, could be in a position to recast two of the most visible and bottom-line valuable head coaching posts in the athletic department — basketball and football — in his first nine months on the job.

That’s an opportunity not afforded any of his predecessors and one that, should it come to pass, would carry huge responsibility. Especially for a first-time AD.

But, then, among Matlin’s most trumpeted credentials at last week’s news conference were his 13 years with ESPN Events and the ties he said he was able to forge with an array of conferences and schools and their administrators. They are the kind of contacts that should allow him to assess applicants from far and wide without the rigmarole or expense of a search firm. 

That’s no small consideration given the urgency this search for a basketball coach has taken on due to its exceedingly late (March 25) posting and fast-approaching start (April 15) to the national signing period.   

Want an early read on the brand new Matlin administration? You won’t have long to wait.

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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.