When you hold the ball for a final play, you’d better make the shot.

And that’s the situation University of Hawaii President David Lassner created when he waited … and waited … and waited to make his recommendation for the next athletic director.

On Thursday, UH’s Board of Regents will vote on whether to approve the nomination of Craig Angelos, Long Island University’s senior deputy director of athletics, for the role. Reject or table Angelos’ appointment and UH risks ending the fiscal year without a successor to David Matlin, whose retirement is effective June 2. Confirm Angelos, and UH turns over leadership of the 21-sport program to a man without apparent Hawaii ties who needs to hit the accelerator to make friends with lawmakers and influence donors.

These are challenging times for the UH athletic department, which is a collateral victim of key lawmakers’ hostility toward UH Manoa, and an outsider in an evolving college-football landscape and kick-the-can plans to replace Aloha Stadium. Lassner knew this when he accepted Matlin’s retirement plans in January.

Lassner is a selfless and even-keeled leader who has spent a decade lobbying for the needs of the state’s only public university. It is commendable he has stepped up to solely pick a new AD. He is credited with crafting the ground rules for applying.

But the strongly suggested requirements prevented a former mayoral candidate (Keith Amemiya) and former mayor (Mufi Hannemann) from applying. Jarinn Akana, a former UH basketball player and NBA agent with experience in negotiating lucrative contracts and sponsorships, met with Lassner only after prodding from local power brokers. But Akana never met with the eight-member advisory/search committee, which conducted interviews through Zoom. Sam Moku, a former UH defensive back and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s chief of staff, interviewed with the committee but was not Lassner’s choice.

It would have been ideal for Lassner to make a recommendation in March, giving his choice — if approved — more than two months to work with Matlin on the transfer of power.

It would have given Angelos a chance to meet with boosters, watch the sports teams he will be overseeing, make cold calls to the uku-billionaires who bought land here, and schmooze Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, chair of the Higher Education Committee, and Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, chair of the Committee on Ways and Means.

But Lassner did not make his official recommendation until a day ahead of UH’s spring commencement ceremony. The legislative session is pau. Planners for the new Aloha Stadium are distracted by the rail cars going back and forth. Meanwhile, UH needs to complete expansion on the Ching Complex before rolling out the full season-ticket packages for football. And somebody — anybody — needs to decide whether to raise the grass soccer field or lower the grass football practice field to create a level surface for a new track.

If approved, Angelos, who grew up in Salt Lake City and played baseball for BYU, would follow a so-called pendulum pattern. Following Stan Sheriff’s stunning death in 1992, UH’s succession of athletic directors has been one with local ties (Hugh Yoshida), no local ties (Herman Frazier), local (Jim Donovan), no local connection (Ben Jay), and local (Matlin).

By many accounts, Angelos is a capable manager who blends intelligence, compassion and reason. He has a law degree. He served a church mission. He will fight the good fight to help his school. His former boss at Florida Atlantic said Angelos was a diligent athletic director who thrived in fundraising and was an integral part of the construction of an on-campus, 30,000-seat stadium. (Is his selection an indication UH would prefer a fully functional stadium on campus?)

But unlike FAU, there is no extra capital-improvement money that can be redirected as start-up money to improve UH facilities. There are no biotech companies to form public-private partnerships. FAU’s stadium was built because Angelos worked in unison with a supportive school president and a popular football coach who attracted fans and donors.

Angelos can do a lot of things, but he cannot do it alone in Hawaii. Lassner, of course, is a busy man who has the immense responsibility of running an entire university system. Still, Lassner needs to provide guidance, continued financial support and contacts.

If things work out, UH will have comparable facilities, resources and NIL opportunities to its conference cohorts. It can build on the success of its sports teams. If not, there might not be a Rainbow Warrior football team in four years.

It’s up to Lassner to deliver the winning shot.