HONOLULU — University of Hawaii President David Lassner has made a selection for the university’s next athletic director and the school will announce the person’s identity on Friday morning, UH said on Wednesday.

The pick was made among a handful candidates that were forwarded to Lassner from UH’s eight-member search committee, UH spokesperson Dan Meisenzahl said during an informational briefing with local media members.

However, in a change from past UH athletic director announcements, the pick must be confirmed by the UH Board of Regents, which will vote on the matter at its next meeting on May 18. That’s because of a change in the structure of UH leadership; in the past, the UH president would confirm the AD pick made by the Manoa chancellor. But since the chancellor position has been eliminated, the president makes the pick and his supervisor — the board — must ratify it.

In the past, the Board of Regents was responsible for confirming the salary of upper-level administrators, such as the athletic director, but not the selection of the athletic director itself.

Spectrum News was told by a source that four candidates were forwarded to Lassner.

UH will include Lassner’s pick in the Board of Regents’ meeting agenda, which gets posted six days prior to the meeting in adherence with the state’s Sunshine Law.

During that six-day period, the athletic director pick, Lassner and regents will not be made available for comment. UH may make people with experience working with the candidate available for comment, it said. Regents may solicit feedback from the public if they choose.

The number of total applicants for the athletic director position was not disclosed. March 10 was the application deadline, though UH said it would continue to accept applications until the position was filled.

David Matlin announced in January that he will step down as athletic director on Friday, June 2. UH said it is on schedule with its previously announced plan to have the new athletic director in place the following Monday.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.