Eighty-five people have applied for the vacant University of Hawaii women's basketball head coaching job, UH athletic director Jim Donovan said yesterday.

Donovan repeated the mantra he used after Jim Bolla's dismissal that the five-person search committee would narrow down the field “;as fast as practical.”;

The close of the national letter-of-intent signing period on May 20 is not a drop-dead date for the coach's hire, he said, as athletes may still be offered scholarships after that period. The Wahine have three scholarships to offer.

In its application, UH stated it preferred candidates with five years of college coaching experience—ideally at the Division I level—but that it would review equivalent forms of experience.