 "Photo: Brian Tedder/Collegian")
Less than 24 hours after men's basketball coach Travis Ford announced that he no longer wanted to be considered for the head coaching position at Louisiana State University, Ford interviewed for the Providence job Wednesday afternoon.
Multiple media sources reported yesterday that Ford was a candidate for the job. ESPN's Andy Katz confirmed yesterday that Ford was on campus at Providence as part of the interview process. Meanwhile, FoxSports.com reported that PC offered the job to Ford Wednesday afternoon.
Providence is searching for a replacement for Tim Welsh, who was fired after 10 seasons. The school unsuccessfully recruited George Mason coach and PC alumnus Jim Larranaga for the position last week.
In a statement released by UMass Tuesday night, Ford was clear that he did not want to be a candidate for the LSU position.
"There has been a lot [of] misinformation circulating about me and the job at LSU," he said. "I feel that it is necessary to state that I do not want to be considered for the job."
Before the Minutemen completed their season, there was rampant speculation that LSU would hire Ford to replace John Brady, who was fired in February. Now the school appears to have reached an agreement with Trent Johnson of Stanford. Though, no official announcement has been made.
Providence fired Welsh after 10 seasons of mediocre results. Though he maintained a 160-143 record, he led the Friars to only two NCAA Tournament appearances (2001 and '04) and a pair of 20-win seasons.
The Friars finished 12th in the 16-team Big East conference last season with a 6-12 record. Providence had one of the younger teams in the Big East in 2007-08 with one senior. The team finished with a 15-16 record overall.
Ford also has a connection to Providence through UMass alumnus Rick Pitino. Ford played for Pitino at Kentucky during the 1990s and Pitino coached at Providence before taking the UK job. Pitino also served an influential role in the hiring of Ford and former coach John Calipari at UMass, and there's speculation that Pitino is currently fulfilling a similar role with PC.
Ford completed his third season at UMass last Thursday with a loss to Ohio State in the finals of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Minutemen finished with a 25-11 record and will lose three seniors to graduation. Ford joined the University after spending five seasons at Eastern Kentucky.
Michael King can be reached at mking@dailycollegian.com
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