Mickie DeMoss is staying put for now.

Tennessee's associate head coach has turned down an invitation from Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne to visit Lincoln and officially interview for the Huskers' women's basketball coaching post, according to Lincoln Journal Star.

DeMoss was largely regarded as the leading candidate to succeed Paul Sanderford, who resigned for undisclosed health reasons on June 13. DeMoss, who had met with Byrne in Knoxville, Tenn., last Monday, said the lateness of the opening prompted her decision.

"When it gets to be July, it's like you're starting behind the eight-ball in terms of recruiting," DeMoss told the Journal Star. "You can't have a down year in recruiting."

Former Colorado State coach Tom Collen and Creighton coach Connie Yori also are considered candidates. Yori, last season's Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Bluejays to the regular-season and tournament crowns and the team's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994, said she spoke with Byrne on Thursday but declined to offer further details.

Collen said Thursday he hasn't heard from Byrne since the two met in Omaha on Saturday.

DeMoss has been involved in a handful of head-coaching searches this summer. In April, she pursued the Ohio State opening and was a finalist for the job that eventually went to Vanderbilt's Jim Foster. She revealed to the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Thursday that she was contacted by Vanderbilt last month during its protracted search, although the relationship never extended past the first telephone contact.