A choice has been made.

A recommendation for Hawaii women's basketball coach was given to athletic director Jim Donovan yesterday, search committee chair Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano said last night.

Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano did not divulge the name, and Donovan was unavailable for comment last night.

Former Rainbow Wahine player Dana Takahara-Dias interviewed for the job yesterday on campus. She was among eight finalists.

Takahara-Dias' interview comes a week after she was reported elsewhere as a finalist, followed by her later telling the Star-Bulletin that she was never called by UH about the position.

But the situation changed this week and Takahara-Dias became part of a new and expanded list of finalists.

“;It was a great opportunity to meet with the committee and share my thoughts on the program,”; she said.

“;I'm happy to be part of the process. I've lived it,”; Takahara-Dias said. “;I want to do something for the school. I'm a proud alumnus.”;

Former UH assistants Gavin Petersen and George Wolfe, former USC coach Mark Trakh, former Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini, Colorado assistant Patrick Harrington, UC Davis assistant Jennifer Gross and former UC Riverside coach Jennifer Young are the other finalists, according to sources.

Donovan has been sitting in on the interviews.

WNBA legend Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was in the running until recently. She took a four-year deal to be the coach of Prairie View's women's team yesterday.