David Matlin was named the University of Hawaii athletic director March 25, 2015. The men’s basketball team didn’t have a permanent coach and the women’s coach, Laura Beeman, was being courted by Utah.

On April 9 — more than two weeks before Matlin officially started at UH — Eran Ganot was hired to coach the men. On the same day, Beeman told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser she was staying. “The reason is I like what David Matlin is doing. I’m not driven by money,” she said.

Many questioned the Ganot hire because the Rainbows almost got to the NCAA Tournament under interim coach Benjy Taylor. But in Ganot’s first season completed last week they took the Big West regular-season and tournament championships, and then won an NCAA tourney game for the first time in school history.

“I couldn’t be prouder of both teams,” Matlin said Saturday, in agreement that the hoops success was the highlight of his first year. “It’s been a little fatiguing, but special. And it points out the opportunity we have to be uplifting to the state. It’s hard to quantify that. The best things in Hawaii are free but priceless.”

The presence in both NCAA tournaments was timely as legislation designed to relieve some of UH’s financial problems is headed down the home stretch at the state capitol. Senate Bill 83 requests $3 million for UH’s (and its opponents’) travel costs that would come from state funds now controlled by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

The HTA doesn’t “see the nexus” between its tourism marketing goals and “paying for UH travel expenses,” HTA president George Szigeti said. But UH’s NCAA games alone added up to six hours of national exposure for Hawaii.

“It’s my first go-round with this (legislative) process,” Matlin said. “I feel good, that we’re getting our story out there about the value of athletics among a lot of competing priorities.”

Hoops wasn’t all positive in Matlin’s first year, and fallout lingers from the NCAA investigation of the men’s team. UH now must deal with probation. It includes reduced scholarships and a one-year suspension from postseason play, pending an appeal that may come too late to keep the core of the team at UH.

As it was with the pick of Ganot, not all were happy with Matlin’s selection of a new football coach. Spring practice starts this week and Nick Rolovich will be under the microscope; June Jones still has supporters who believe he was an obvious choice to revive a program mired in the dumps of five straight losing seasons.

As he did with basketball, Matlin did what he thinks is best for the long-term.

“I’m very excited with his energy, with what he’s done so far in the offseason,” Matlin said of Rolovich. “I think people in our department are excited and there’s a value to that.”

The firing of Norm Chow that created that opening was an easy call for armchair ADs. The actual execution was anything but for Matlin.

“Yes, the human element. It’s difficult when you respect and like the person,” he said. “That was hard. Obviously it’s harder on the person (being fired).”

Matlin said it was the lowest low in a roller-coaster year.

“After a year, I found the job is harder than I thought it would be,” he said. “And I thought it would be hard.”

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