Apple’s claim about Donovan disputed

Coaches from five University of Hawaii teams said they were surprised by Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple’s assertion that "43 of 44 coaches" sent him a letter thanking him for removing Jim Donovan as athletic director.

At Tuesday’s hearing by the state Senate Special Committee on Accountability, Apple said, "in the interest of transparency, I’ll say something. I received a couple of weeks later (after Donovan’s removal) a letter from 43 of 44 coaches saying thank you for the leadership we have."

Apple said, "I can’t imagine that happened without there being a bit of a … there wasn’t the kind of leadership that I was looking for. I made a choice."

The coaches, who asked not to be named because their contract renewals must go through the chancellor’s office, said they had not heard of nor had they signed such a letter. Upon hearing Apple’s comments they said they asked others in the department who, they said, also professed to be unaware of such a letter.

They speculated that Apple was referring to a three-page Aug. 28 letter signed by 45 coaches, including all but one head coach, asking him to "consider immediately appointing Dr. Rockne Freitas as our athletic director."

A spokeswoman for the chancellor’s office confirmed that was the letter referenced by Apple and said, "Chancellor Apple said he was referring to the wholehearted support for leadership expressed in the August 28 letter."

That letter, which made no mention of Donovan in the three paragraphs preceding the signatures, came 16 days after Donovan had been reassigned to a position in the Manoa Chancellor’s office and five days after an AD search advisory committee had been announced. The letter dealt only with Freitas.

According to Donovan’s 360 evaluation presented to the senate committee, he scored a 4.38 (on a 5.0 scale) among more than a dozen coaches and staff surveyed.

During the hearing Apple said "quite frankly I was worried about whether some of our coaches would stay (if Donovan was retained)."

The coaches said they had no plans to leave no matter who the AD was.