Busy 24 hours. Here are a bunch of things that I’ve heard…

• Monmouth head coach King Rice on fire right now at Duquesne. Sounds like this one is really close to getting done – stay tuned…

• Hottest name right now at UMass is Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley. He has killed it at FGCU, winning 21+ games in each of his four seasons there (including 26 this year). The long-time Kansas assistant was also the head coach at East Carolina from 1995-99.

• Early, early, early names at VCU are Rice head coach Mike Rhoades, and Mt. St. Mary’s head coach Jamion Christian. They are both former assistants to Shaka Smart at VCU.

• I’ve heard Villanova associate head coach Baker Dunleavy’s name mentioned surrounding the search at Quinnipiac. Other names here are Vermont head coach John Becker, Xavier associate head coach Travis Steele, and Iona associate head coach Jared Grasso.

• Worst kept secret out there is the first four to interview at Cal. They are: Nevada head coach Eric Musselman, Montana head coach Travis DeCuire, UC Davis head coach Jim Les, and UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner. I’ve also heard that former UCLA and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin is making a push here.

• Yesterday, I mentioned on the Scott Hamilton radio show that I had heard Indiana AD Fred Glass had hired Parker to assist in the search. That has now been confirmed. I still believe this is Steve Alford’s job if he wants it…

• A name picking up steam at UNC Wilmington is Louisville associate head coach Kenny Johnson. The former Indiana assistant has also worked at Towson, so he’s familiar with the CAA. Other names that I’ve heard here are Michigan assistant (and UNCW alum) Billy Donlon, and NCCU head coach LeVelle Moton.

• It sounds like new Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is going to make a push to retain current interim head coach Jamall Walker. Illinois is still alive in the NIT after knocking off Boise State with Walker at the helm. I have heard that no decision will be made here until after the tournament.

• I have heard from a great source that new Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin will make some changes to his coaching staff. It sounds like assistant coach Jonathan Mattox will be the only assistant retained.