Final details surrounding the presentation of his name to the Board of Regents were expected to be wrapped up today to make Frazier the successor to Hugh Yoshida, although a formal announcement on what might be a three-year contract in the neighborhood of $180,000 a year could come Friday at the monthly regents meeting.

Frazier is tentatively scheduled to be introduced at a Friday afternoon campus press conference.

Frazier, 46, declined to comment on the status of his contract saying, "it is premature at this point."

Frazier, who has been athletic director at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, arrived in Honolulu last night and met with UH president Evan Dobelle and interim Manoa chancellor Deane Neubauer. Today he is scheduled for an additional meeting with some UH officials and could sign the contract then.

As of this morning, Frazier had not resigned from Alabama-Birmingham, school officials said.

Speaking for the first time from what he termed, "a secluded spot" where he is staying with his fiancee Caroline, Frazier said, "money is not the issue with me."

He said the opportunities at UH appeal to him. "It (UH) is a great place as far as an institution of higher learning. I think they have a lot of things here in place to make it a viable (player) in the world of college athletics."

Frazier said he began coming to Hawai'i as far back as 1979 when he was in administration at Arizona State and the Sun Devil football team played UH at Aloha Stadium. Since then, Frazier said, he has visited here "about 20 times" between vacations and business trips, including for the National Invitation Tournament and Aloha Bowl. "I've traveled around the state and been on campus many times before."

But when Bob Beaudine, president of Eastman & Beaudine, the UH-contracted search firm, called him to gauge his interest in the UH opening, Frazier said, "I was surprised. I wasn't looking for a job; the search people contacted me.

"I was surprised to hear from Bob. I've dealt with him before but had not spoken to him in, oh, six years," Frazier said. "What they (search firms) do is see what an institution is looking for and what they try to do is match the right person with the right institution."

Frazier said he known Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano, assistant UH athletic director and senior women's administrator, and has met football coach June Jones and Yoshida in the past.