The state House will not order a state financial and management audit of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa athletic department after several lawmakers said they were impressed by new athletic director Jim Donovan's candor in acknowledging past problems.

Donovan apologized to House lawmakers last month, and again in a private caucus on Monday, for what he called evasive and inaccurate financial information that had been provided to the Legislature by Herman Frazier, his predecessor. Donovan said the athletic department's finances were worse than what Frazier and other UH administrators had described last year.

But Donovan and UH administrators also said a state audit would be duplicative because the department undergoes an independent financial audit each year, and that UH has just authorized a management audit.

"I'm quite confident that Jim Donovan will do a great job. He really stood up to the plate at the hearing last month before the Legislative Management Committee," said state Rep. John Mizuno, D-30th (Kamehameha Heights, Kalihi Valley, Fort Shafter), who sponsored the resolution calling for the audit. "His honesty and candor was outstanding. To just step up and say that the past administration provided information that was not correct was very important, both for him to do that and for us to hear that.

"With that kind of candor, I think we can trust Jim Donovan."

Donovan said he repeated his apology, thanked lawmakers for their past financial support of the athletic department, and discussed the department's budget and long-term plans in private caucus on Monday. He said he did not mention the state audit or repeat that he thought it was unnecessary.

After the caucus, Mizuno and state Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City), met with state House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise), and the three agreed to drop the state audit.

Mizuno's resolution had been scheduled for hearing before the House Finance Committee yesterday but it was pulled from the agenda.

"I think every single question that we have regarding UH athletics has been answered to my satisfaction," said Takai, who has been aggressive about monitoring the athletic department's finances.

Mizuno, Takai and other lawmakers said they want the athletic department to move forward and believe the independent audits being done for the university will catch any previous discrepancies.

State Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), the chairman of the House Finance Committee, said he had scheduled the hearing yesterday at Mizuno's request but agreed with the decision to drop the audit.

"They want to give Donovan the benefit of the doubt," Oshiro said. "To his credit, I think he understands that he is coming in and inheriting a lot of these problems, issues and concerns. And he needs to distance himself from Herman Frazier."

State Rep. Michael Magaoay, D-46th (Schofield, Mokule'ia, North Shore), the chairman of the House Legislative Management Committee, said he told UH chief financial officer Howard Todo at a fundraiser for a House colleague on Tuesday night that he expects the university to make public the findings of the independent audits of the athletic department.

Magaoay also said he is still waiting for the athletic department to publicly release a full accounting of the UH delegation to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, including who attended at the university's expense.

"I thought the state audit was the right thing to do," said Magaoay, who added that he would not press the issue further because it was Mizuno's resolution. "For me, I wanted it so the public would know what's going on."