UH prez hopeful: Keep local athletes home

Keeping top local athletes home to play for the University of Hawaii would be a priority if he becomes the school’s president, retired Army Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski said Wednesday.

"I personally would like to see more of our great local talent stay here and we have to do things to make sure that they do stay here," Wiercinski told the Star-Advertiser editorial board.

Wiercinski and interim president David Lassner are the two finalists for the president’s job. A decision by the Board of Regents is expected June 2.

Wiercinski said facilities are key to helping retain top local players.

"If you look at any other facilities on any other major campus, they are clean, they are safe and they are up to date," Wiercinski said. "And they make you feel proud about what you are doing — and there is a lot to be said for that."

Wiercinski said he and his wife attend some UH basketball and volleyball contests and have held season tickets in football, sitting on the 10-yard line. He said he has heard some facilities "are not great" and a walking tour of UH facilities to assess UH’s needs "is one of the first things I’d like to do" if named president.

Wiercinski said he’d like to delve deeper into the stadium dilemma.

"We don’t have our own stadium, which comes with other conditions, and I fully understand the difficulties (of) the stadium authority. It is an old facility. I mean, it was here 34 years ago when I was here."

As a campus outsider, Wiercinski said he would bring "wide-open, fresh eyes" to the UH system and its athletics.

"Certainly my eyes would be wide open on that, just as they would be for any other (UH) project."

Wiercinski said, "I’m very much in support of the athletic program at (UH). It is not only what it does for the student-athletes and how it changes their lives, it is the community’s connection on a day-to-day basis with their university. I mean, you just have to walk downtown and you are going to see a lot of people wearing (UH) athletic gear. They love their university and the connection to its teams."