Search for UT's new coach may end by next weekend

Cedric Dempsey, former NCAA president and head of Champ Search of Los Angeles, said the wheels are turning quickly to find a replacement for Buzz Peterson.

The only hang-up is if "the teams keep winning in the tournament," Dempsey said on Saturday.

Dempsey wouldn't go into specific names, but said he was very pleased with the compiled list of candidates.

"I think (Monday or Tuesday) might be a little premature," he said. "Mike (Hamilton, Tennessee's athletic director) was going to be calling some of the school ADs for permission to talk to some people.

"We're shooting for this time next week, certainly. A lot depends on if teams keep winning in the tournament."

At the time Dempsey was contacted, he was watching Arizona play the University of Alabama-Birmingham in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

His interest in that game was two-fold. Dempsey is a former athletic director at Arizona and hired Lute Olson as Wildcats' coach in 1983.

Also, UAB coach Mike Anderson is thought to be one of the primary targets of the Tennessee search.

The Blazers (22-11) destroyed LSU in the first round, but Arizona defeated UAB 85-63 on Saturday.

Bobby Lutz of Charlotte, another coach involved in the search, led his team to a third-place finish in Conference USA, one spot above UAB. Charlotte also beat UAB earlier this season.

Charlotte (21-8) was knocked out of the NCAA field with a 75-63 first-round loss to North Carolina State.

Bruce Pearl of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is another name skyrocketing up the list.

Pearl led No. 12-seeded UW-Milwaukee (25-5) to a dramatic 83-75 upset of his alma mater Boston College on Saturday.

Pearl's career coaching record is 296-72, including a nine-year stint at Southern Indiana.

Another reported target is Bob Knight of Texas Tech. Knight helped his Red Raiders rally from a 13-point deficit to beat Gonzaga 71-69 on Saturday.

Texas Tech (22-10) plays Thursday against the winner of Saturday's late game between Wake Forest and West Virginia.

Representatives from the Champ Search firm, Dana Pump and David Pump, have ties with Knight, his son Patrick, and adidas - a company strongly affiliated with both Knight and UT.

This is Dempsey's first official search for a coach as an affiliate of the relatively new Champ Search firm.

"But I've helped other people find coaches," he said. "I enjoy it and have enough experience in the process."

Tennessee is paying $25,000 to Champ Search, hired on March 4.

Dempsey was named NCAA president in 1993 and served in that role until 2002.

Prior to that, he was an athletic director at Pacific (1967-79), San Diego State (1979), Houston (1979-82) and Arizona (1983-1993).

Other possible candidates who led teams to the NCAA includes: Karl Hobbs of George Washington, Dan Monson of Minnesota, Gregg Marshall of Winthrop, Dana Altman of Creighton and Rick Barnes of Texas.

George Washington plays Louisville today in a second-round game.

Monson, Marshall, Altman and Barnes each watched their teams lose first-round games.

Monson is thought to be a longshot since he and Peterson are close friends.

Barnes has said he isn't interested in the Virginia opening, but he and his wife, Candy, are Hickory, N.C., natives with Tennessee connections.

Champ Search, sources said, also has been in contact with Frank Haith of Miami. The Hurricanes lost in the first round of the NIT.

Tom Crean of Marquette is another option, but he's already making $1.2 million.

Dempsey said it shouldn't be hard to lure a coach to Knoxville.

"I think University of Tennessee basketball is a very good job and people know that," he said.