| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Tulsa coach Bill Self will become the next coach at Illinois, a source close to the coach told ESPN.com on Thursday.
|  | | Bill Self inherits a team capable of winning the Big Ten next season. |
Self was traveling to Champaign, Ill., Thursday night to finalize details. He was expected to meet with Illinois assistant coaches Rob Judson and Derek Thomas, who were not taken with Lon Kruger to the Atlanta Hawks.
Early Friday morning, the school set a 2 p.m. ET news conference to
announce a new coach. Self hurriedly met with Tulsa players on
Thursday afternoon before traveling to Champaign to meet with
Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther to finalize terms of the
deal.
"He spoke with every single player today before he left and put
them on notice about what was going on, that he was going to be
speaking with Illinois," Tulsa assistant coach Norman Roberts said
late Thursday. "I don't know what's happened after that. It's just
all happened so quick."
After negotiations with Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson broke down, Guenther requested permission from Tulsa to talk with Self.
Media reports on Friday placed Illinois' offer to Self between
$900,000 and $1 million a year and said Tulsa is owed money to
terminate Self's contract there. Kruger, who left
to become coach of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks two weeks ago, was
making $750,000 at Illinois.
The attention shifted in earnest to Self after Guenther and Sampson couldn't reach an agreement Wednesday night. Guenther called Tulsa athletics directors Judy MacLeod on Thursday afternoon for permission to talk with Self.
A source close to Self said Thursday that an Illinois official representing Guenther contacted Self after Sampson withdrew. The source also said Self would take the job if offered, despite the fact Self agreed to a contract extension at Tulsa after last season that raised his compensation from $350,000 to $550,000 per year. The $200,000 raise was funded by Tulsa boosters.
The job can't formally be offered until Friday because of Illinois' affirmative action laws.
Self led Tulsa to the NCAA Tournament's second round two years ago and reached the Elite Eight last March. In his three seasons there, the Golden Hurricane were 74-27.
Sources close to Guenther and Sampson had said that Guenther planned on offering close to $1 million a year to pry Sampson away from his Oklahoma contract. However, they decided to go their separate ways.
Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione said Thursday that he didn't know whether Sampson had been offered the job or not.
Had a deal not been worked out with Self, sources said that Guenther would have turned his attention to Oregon coach Ernie Kent.
"Being considered for any job reinforces that you are part of a win-win situation," Sampson said in a statement released Thursday. "Oklahoma is a win -- for myself and for my family. The strides this program has made the last six years, the foundation we have built and the direction in which we are headed are all very exciting. The future of this program is extremely bright and I am delighted to be associated with this group of student-athletes, my staff and the University of Oklahoma as a whole."
Sampson told Arizona athletics director Jim Livengood -- one of Sampson's closest advisors -- that he was struggling with the possibility of taking the job as late as Wednesday morning, a source close to Livengood told ESPN.com. Livengood and Sampson worked together at Washington State, and it is believed that whenever Arizona coach Lute Olson decides to step down, Sampson would be the natural choice for Livengood.
But the overriding factors for Sampson staying at Oklahoma were his commitment to his incoming players and his comfort zone in Norman, Okla. Sampson has been one of the hottest names in coaching circles for the past few years, but this was the most serious attempt at getting him away from the Sooners.
UI's board of trustees met Thursday in Chicago and was scheduled
to meet again Friday to interview finalists for the chancellor's
post at UI-Chicago. The reason given for the closed-door meeting,
however, is a personnel matter and would allow them to hear about a
potential basketball coach.
Illinois sports information director Kent Brown said it is common procedure for a major hire such as a men's basketball coach to be approved by the board, but most of the time it would occur on a conference call.
The Tulsa search to replace Self begins immediately, with new names joining assistant Norm Roberts, Kentucky assistant Shawn Finney, Oklahoma assistant Ray Lopes and San Jose State's Steve Barnes. Appalachian State's Buzz Peterson will be in the mix for the position, as will Washington State head coach Paul Graham (a former Oklahoma State assistant). Look for Kansas assistant Joe Holladay, Southwest Missouri State's Barry Hinson, Arkansas assistant Mike Anderson and Arizona State assistants Russ Pennell and Tony Benford to be in the mix, too.
Fewer than 10 names are on MacLeod's short list for the job.
MacLeod submitted the list Sunday to Tulsa President Bob Lawless
and university trustees during a two-hour meeting. The next step
will be preliminary telephone interviews with candidates, spokesman
Don Tomkalski said Monday.
MacLeod declined to say exactly how many candidates are on
the list or identify them. No interviews had been scheduled.
Oklahoma State assistant Sean Sutton would be a perfect fit but he's in line to take over for his father Eddie whenever the elder Sutton decides to retire.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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