Bennett declines IU job

Washington State basketball coach Tony Bennett withdrew his name from consideration for IU’s vacant men’s basketball coaching job, according to multiple media reports published online Sunday. \nBennett told ESPN.com that he and IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan discussed the position Saturday night, though Bennett said he was not formally offered the job. \n“I thought about it, but I’m not going to pursue it,” Bennett told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz. \nBennett was the first coach Greenspan contacted during the search, said Katz, who reported Saturday that IU hopes to name a new coach by Thursday. \nThe news that Bennett was not interested capped a four-day stretch of wild speculation regarding IU’s coaching future. \nIndianapolis TV station WISH-TV reported that if not Bennett, then former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery or University of Nevada Las Vegas’s Lon Kruger could be considered for the job. Kruger was a former head coach at Kansas State, Florida and Illinois.\nChris Korman of the Bloomington Herald Times reported IU was still pursuing Xavier coach Sean Miller, whose team was recently ousted from the NCAA Tournament after reaching the Elite Eight. \nKatz had reported Saturday that Miller’s Xavier contract includes a buyout clause, which IU might not be able to afford.\nKorman reported IU would be willing to pay the $2 million buyout if Miller was interested in the position. \nThe Associated Press reported late Sunday that former IU player and current New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas had no interest in the IU job. Thomas told reporters before New York’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday he supported interim IU coach Dan Dakich for the permanent position and believed many other former players shared his opinion. \nDuring the weekend, IU fan message boards on recruiting service Peegs.com exploded. The “Premium IU Hoops” forum set a record for most users logged on at the same time on Sunday afternoon. Some fans even monitored planes flying in and out of Monroe County Airport, tracking their destinations in hopes it could help solve the IU coaching search puzzle.\nOne plane left Bloomington for Albuquerque, N.M., which led the Chicago Tribune to speculate whether IU had talked to Hoosier great and former Iowa coach Steve Alford, currently the head coach at New Mexico State. \nSeveral media outlets reported last week former Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles would interview with IU for the job.