Driving to his downtown office at 9:30 on a Saturday morning is nothing out of the ordinary for David Matlin.

“It’s not abnormal,” Matlin said. “What’s different is that I started work today at 5 a.m. (at home).”

He’s officially on the clock only as executive director of the Hawaii Bowl and Diamond Head Classic. Matlin doesn’t technically start as University of Hawaii athletic director until April 27. But in reality, his tenure as the head of the state’s most prominent sports program is well underway.

UH fans might prefer he just put all his energy into the new post immediately. But Matlin knows that the way you leave a job is as important as the way you start one — maybe even more so.

Ben Jay, who is still the UH athletic director at least in name for the next few weeks, knows that as well. And that alleviates any potential awkwardness during the transition. One of Matlin’s first meetings after his introductory news conference was with the man he will replace.

“He was very supportive,” Matlin said. “He had some things prepared for me I felt were very informative and helpful. Answered some questions I had. I couldn’t be more appreciative.”

If Jay is bitter over his forced resignation, he isn’t taking it out on Matlin. Why would he? He recommended him for the job — way before a search advisory committee forwarded Matlin’s name, and his alone, to Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman.

“If we’re going to take a look at local people who have the contacts on the mainland and knowledge of NCAA relationships with ADs and conference commissioners, knowledge of TV and how important that is for visibility, David has all of that,” Jay said. “That’s the reason I nominated him. There’s no one else here who has that. He’s run an athletic organization. He has the connections. He also understands NCAA rules. You never want to do something that might affect student-athlete eligibility.”

Neither divulged specifics about the meeting last week, but Jay said Matlin will be briefed “soon” on the status of UH’s response to the NCAA allegations stemming from its investigation of the men’s basketball program. UH is supposed to reply by April 30, including possible self-imposed sanctions.

The bulk of that work is done, Jay said, but Matlin will obviously have input.

“In the end, a lot of this is work by our compliance and legal folks,” Matlin said.

In what works out as some serendipity, Matlin was headed to the Final Four in Indianapolis this week, anyway; it’s a normal part of his job with the Diamond Head Classic. Now he will also be looking for a men’s basketball coach.

Whoever ends up with that job — or any coaching position while he is AD — will have to prove to Matlin he or she is a practitioner of “winning with integrity,” which was a major theme of his public comments Wednesday. He expounded on them Saturday.

“That’s the whole ball of wax,” he said. “These are student-athletes. They’re here to get degrees and make progress toward degrees. It’s imperative. It’s very important what we do both on and off the court. We’re talking in general for all 21 programs.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.