Consider it the Year of the Question Mark.

Just what will 2009 bring for the local sports world?

Some of the more intriguing questions revolve around making huge decisions while others involve making history. Among those to keep an eye on:

Jim Donovan: His second year as Hawaii athletic director will continue to be an uphill battle to make his department financially solvent. The economic crisis that has gripped the country has also touched the largest athletic program in the 50th state, including rising travel costs both ways across the Pacific and the shrinking entertainment dollar being spent less at UH sporting events.

BJ Penn: On Jan. 31, the Hilo native tries to become the first mixed martial arts fighter to hold multiple world titles at the same time when the current UFC lightweight champion moves up a division.

Penn will face Canada's Georges St.-Pierre for the welterweight championship in the main event of UFC 94 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Penn (14-4-1) won both of his fights in 2008, defeating Joe Stevenson for the lightweight title in January before successfully defending it against Sean Sherk in May.

Dave Shoji: With a 984-173-1 record after 34 years at Hawaii, Shoji is poised to become just the second women's volleyball coach to win 1,000 matches. (UCLA's Andy Banachowski is the other).

The milestone probably will be reached sometime around Shoji's 62nd birthday in early December, and probably after the Rainbow Wahine win their 10th straight Western Athletic Conference title and advance to their 17th consecutive NCAA tournament.

Manti Te'o: For the Punahou senior linebacker, his dilemma is enviable. Ranked as the top high school athlete in the country by The Sporting News, Te'o has his choice of colleges; BYU, USC, Stanford, Notre Dame and UCLA are among the dozen that have offered a scholarship.

Michelle Wie: The intrigue surrounding the former teen golfing phenom is sure to continue as she heads out as a card-carrying member of the LPGA Tour for the first time.

Diamond Head Classic: The new eight-team men's basketball tournament replaces the Rainbow Classic, which will be trimmed to a four-team round-robin event. The tie-in with the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and ESPN regional television should give the DHC a boost the Rainbow Classic never had in its first 45 years.