Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple has been given the names of two recommended candidates for consideration as the next University of Hawaii athletic director.

Both candidates, whom UH officials refused to identify, are said to be from the mainland and are believed to be associate ADs at Bowl Championship Series schools.

"In order to attract a high caliber of candidates, Chancellor Apple has been asked to keep the identities of candidates confidential, and he is respecting those requests," Manoa spokeswoman Diane Chang said Monday in response to an inquiry from the Star-Advertiser.

The 11-member search committee, chaired by former banker Howard Karr, received approximately 100 applications. The committee, which worked in conjunction with an Atlanta-based search firm, forwarded two finalists to Apple.

The most recently announced deadline of Thursday for a selection "looks to be on target," Chang said.

UH vice president Rockne Freitas, who did not apply for the position, has served as acting AD since July 11, when Jim Donovan was removed pending an internal investigation of the Stevie Wonder concert debacle.

Donovan was reassigned to a new position in the Manoa Chancellor’s office in August after the university said he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Donovan is a finalist for the AD job at Cal State Fullerton, where he interviewed last week.

There has been some support within UH for "drafting" Freitas despite the absence of an application. In August, at the urging of football coach Norm Chow, nearly every head coach — and many of their assistants — signed a letter asking the administration to "consider immediately appointing" Freitas as permanent AD.