Ohio State senior associate athletics director Ben Jay is said to be the leading candidate to fill the athletic director’s position at the University of Hawaii, according to several people who have met him at UH.

But there was no indication today whether UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, who is overseeing the hiring process, will pick Jay or the other finalist, University of California-Berkeley deputy director of athletics Solomon “Solly” Fulp.

UH had listed Thursday as the deadline for naming a new athletic director. A spokeswoman for the Manoa Chancellor’s office declined to say whether an announcement would come today or Thursday.

People who have met the candidates said Jay, an Ohio native, “came across very well” in meetings and benefited from “wide experience.”

Jay has had oversight of finance at operations at Ohio State since 2006, according to the school’s website.

He served as Pac-10 associate commissioner for business and finance for more than 12 years before returning to Ohio State. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s in athletic administration from Ohio State, Jay was the general manager of a minor league baseball team and director of operations for the Cleveland Indians. He was also assistant athletic director at Fairfield University.

Fulp is a University of Oregon graduate and has a masters degree from Sacramento State where he was an assistant and associate athletic director. Fulp also worked in multi-media marketing with ISP Sports and IMG College, specializing in the Pac-10.

Both Fulp and Jay have been in town this week meeting with UH officials and others.

Jay’s email account said, “I am out of the office  Monday, December 3 through Friday, December 7.  I will return to the office on Monday, December 10.”

Neither Jay nor Fulp returned phone messages left for them. 

UH said the 11-member search advisory committee received more than 150 applications, including an additional 50-plus contacts that the Atlanta-based search firm made with prospective candidates. The search firm conducted talks with some candidates who applied and with others who declined to submit applications, UH said.