WSU hopes to hire new coach in a week

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) " Washington State hopes to hire a basketball coach to replace Tony Bennett in about a week, and athletic director Jim Sterk has a couple of candidates in mind.

The AD mentioned Ken Bone of Portland State and Bill Grier of San Diego as possible targets for the Cougars.

Other possible candidates drawing speculation include Randy Bennett of Saint Mary's and Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti, who was head coach at Utah and Eastern Washington.

Bennett, who took the Cougars to unexpected heights in three seasons, surprised the team on Monday by taking the vacant job at Virginia. Bennett got a raise, going from about $1 million per year to $1.7 million in a five-year contract.

Sterk said Monday night that he wants to hire a replacement quickly to retain current players and recruits who have signed to join the Cougars next season.

"This is going to be short and quick," Sterk said, adding he hoped to have a new coach in place within seven days and no longer than two weeks.

Bennett was 69-33 at WSU, with two NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT appearance. He signed a seven-year contract extension last year that made him the highest-paid coach in WSU history at $1 million per year. Virginia must pay a $400,000 buyout to Washington State.

Bone, 50, has led unheralded Portland State to consecutive 23-10 seasons, the most wins in team history. They have made the program's only two trips to the NCAA tournament the past two years. This year, the Vikings became only the third team to beat Gonzaga in its McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004. Bone is 77-49 in four seasons at Portland State. Prior to that, he was 253-97 in 12 seasons as head coach at Seattle Pacific, and spent three seasons as an assistant at Washington. Sterk worked at Seattle Pacific when Bone was a coach there.

Grier, 49, took San Diego to a 22-14 record and the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first season. Last year the Toreros finished 16-16. Before that, he spent 16 years building the Gonzaga program, the last eight as top assistant to Mark Few.

Tony Bennett is a gifted recruiter and Sterk said it was imperative to keep the nine freshmen in last year's class and the new players Bennett signed for next season.

"That's why the quicker we act the better off we are, so there's no lingering doubts about what's going on," Sterk said. "Our intent is that everyone will stay."

Sterk said he expects to pay a new coach about what Bennett was making.

"I don't expect us to go backwards, but I think we'll be paying competitively, what the person's experience and market value (deserves)," Sterk said.