He leveraged a conversation with the Hoosiers into some nice additions to the program. Will he turn down LSU $$ and a chance to get back to his wife's hometown?
Sources: Bennett spurns Hoosiers, will likely stay
by Jeff Goodman
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com.
He can be reached at GoodmanonFOX@aol.com or check out his blog, Good 'N Plenty.
March 30, 2008, 6:50 PM
Washington State coach Tony Bennett has decided to spurn Indiana's offer.
According to sources close to the situation, the Cougars head coach will remain at Washington State, where he'll receive some new perks. The new deal will include charter flights for away games and recruiting, pay raises for his assistants and a new practice facility.
"I had an exploratory conversation with Indiana," Bennett told the newspaper on Sunday afternoon, "and I am not going to pursue the Indiana job."
However, numerous sources maintain that Bennett, 38, was in fact offered the job on Friday, a day after Washington State was eliminated in the Sweet 16 by North Carolina.
He also drew interest from Cal and LSU, but won't be visiting Cal. Bennett's wife is from Baton Rouge, so LSU hasn't been ruled out.
Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan spoke to Bennett Saturday night to gauge his interest after contacting Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk. Bennett won't publicly admit that the offer was made out of courtesy to Indiana, but numerous sources maintain there was an offer on the table. More often than not these days, it's done via a third-party search firm or committee.
Greenspan will move forward and attempt to find a coach by the end of the week. Sources told FOXSports.com that Xavier's Sean Miller might be the next target, but he has a hefty buyout. UNLV's Lon Kruger, former Stanford and NBA coach Mike Montgomery and even Wright State's Brad Brownell could be on the radar.
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