The process of Matt Elliott becoming the University of Hawai‘I’s new athletics director wasn’t just the 11 days in between UH president Wendy Hensel’s selection and the Board of Regents meeting on Monday that made it official.
Rather, the first step in Elliott becoming the University of Hawai‘i's new AD occurred 20 years ago.
After earning his JD from Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law, Elliott moved to O‘ahu for the first time in 2005, taking a position as a clerk for U.S. district court judge Alan C. Kay. It was in the Islands that Elliott met his future wife, Allison Murata, a Punahou alumna. As Elliott's career as a collegiate athletics administrator began to ascend, Matt and Allison's hearts were in Hawaii‘i, and the couple would visit family at least once annually, if not more.
"I came here almost 20 years ago for the first time, came here for a job and just the opportunity to be in this place, I thought it was really amazing and special," Elliott said on Monday afternoon. "Learned a lot about the culture, learned a lot about the systems, the legal system, how it operates here, and how unique Hawai‘i is from that standpoint, its history.
"I was so fortunate to meet Alli, obviously. I mean, what could be better than to meet the person that you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with? And so that year, I get to connect with her family, connect with her friends, and clearly, we were going to be together."
For 13 years, Elliott rose up the ranks within UCLA's athletic department, holding titles such as senior associate athletic director for internal operations and chief strategy officer. He was part of a team that negotiated a 15-year, $280 million apparel deal with Under Armour, the largest deal of its kind in collegiate sports history.
Local and national news outlets pinned Elliott as one of the leaders in securing the Bruins a permanent home in the Big Ten Conference amid uncertainty in the Pac-12 Conference, a move that came to fruition in the 2024-2025 academic year.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt and Allison decided to move home and raise their son, Kai, on O‘ahu. The family made the move in 2022, and Elliott was allowed to work remotely for UCLA. Elliott juggled positions between UCLA and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation before he joined HCF on a full-time basis last summer. Elliott describes Kai, now 5, as an avid sports fan.
"This is my family, right? This is the place that means so much," Elliott said of Hawai‘i. "The culture means so much. The history means so much. And I think people care about this place in a way that is just unbelievable. I love how proud everybody is to be from Hawai‘i, to take care of the land, to take care of the resources, to carry on the culture, the language, all of those things. That matters to me. We're going to raise my son here, because we want him to have that experience, to be exposed to all of those things."
Hawai‘i Community Foundation CEO Micah Kāne spoke glowingly of Elliott the day his hire as UH's next AD was made public, calling him "one of the top leaders that I've ever had the opportunity to work with."
During Monday's Board of Regents meeting at Bachman Hall on the campus of UH-Mānoa, Elliott was unanimously approved with a 10-0 vote. Regents from across the Islands noted that they were approached about Elliott more than they were about Hensel, who herself officially began at UH in January.
Monday's vote was preceded by a testimony from retired judge Michael Broderick, who raved about Elliott during their time together at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, noting his humility and work ethic.
Elliott admits he keeps a low profile on social media, where he is nowhere to be found. He says he prefers to communicate with others in person. Elliott, who got his undergraduate degree at Amherst College in his native Massachusetts, was a member of his varsity crew team. When asked what he does for fun, Elliott says he's taken up cycling over the past few years and even competed in the Honolulu Century Ride, a race around O‘ahu where cyclists can choose to compete for 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles.
As for why Elliott chose to apply for the job, he said he's intrigued by the challenge of guiding UH through a new era in collegiate athletics, one that involves revenue sharing and conference realignment. The House v. NCAA settlement was approved on June 6, allowing schools to share as much as $20.5 million in revenue among student-athletes starting July 1. Additionally, as it pertains to UH, the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine are set to join the Mountain West Conference as full-time members in the summer of 2026.
"Based on the experiences I had, I just see incredible opportunity for UH to be successful, to navigate this space, to create a plan, to come together and figure out what is our strategy, how are we going to approach these really difficult challenges, to do it together," Elliott said. "And at the end of the day, create the best possible experience for our student-athletes. And if we do that, then we bring together the community again, as I said, in this extraordinarily fun way to share in our success. It really is everybody's success, and that's inspiring.
"I just love the intersection of academics of sport. It's what I've done for a long time, and I think here, it means so much to the people of Hawai‘i. I see little kids running around the fields, playing soccer, playing baseball every day. I know how much high school sports matters, and I know how much UH matters. So, that's really incredible."
Elliott's first official day is set for June 30. Throughout the course of multiple media conversations on Monday, he readily acknowledged he has more to learn about the role and the school before commenting on particular subjects. One thing Elliott never hesitated to discuss was his driving force: His 'ohana, a family that has seen a journey that started two decades ago come full circle.
"There's nothing more important than family. My wife and I have been partners in everything we've done, every decision we've made, she's just absolutely incredible. Our life is all about Kai; that is our absolute joy. For him to be a part of this, he is so excited, he's already a hardcore sports fan," Elliott said. "I'm never going to put family second, never gonna sacrifice family, but I want them to be a part of that, and I think that will allow us to have a chance to do some really cool things."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
