UH not bolting to Mountain West

By Ferd Lewis and Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writers

University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier has doused persistent rumors of an impending defection to the Mountain West Conference, insisting school officials have had no talks with the league since he was hired at UH last Aug. 1.

"None ... none at all," Frazier said.

Frazier said "we've had zero conversations" about leaving the 10-school Western Athletic Conference, where UH has been a member since 1979.

UH was among eight WAC schools abandoned when eight defecting members formed the Mountain West on July 1, 1999.

Asked if UH has approached the Mountain West through other channels, senior UH officials or intermediaries such as ESPN, Frazier said, "No."

Frazier said: "As I sit here today, we've had no conversations whatsoever and I don't give out fibs."

Frazier said he, too, has heard recurring rumors that UH and Fresno State are headed to the Mountain West.

"I heard, No. 1, that I was brought in to put us in the Mountain West or Pac (10)," he said. "I also heard, even from other ADs, that Fresno State and Hawai'i are moving. And, I'm telling you this, I heard from somebody on our own campus that we were moving. To this date, I've had no conversations."

But Frazier did not rule out talks in the future.

"If you ask me (this) question four to five months from now, it might be different," he said. "But we have had, as of (now), zero (talks)."

Frazier said his tenure has so far been devoted to other, more immediate, concerns.

"I've been busy working on master plans," he said. "I've been busy working on trying to hire people."