Very busy past 24 hours here at the HoopDirt World Headquarters! I had to get a venti ice coffee with a shot of espresso at Starbucks to stay focused (best $3.97 I’ve ever spent)! Here’s what I have so far today….

Idaho State AD Jeff Tingey has called for a Thursday press conference to name a new head coach. I can confirm that the choice will NOT be current interim head coach Deane Martin. Tingey is keeping this one pretty close to the vest – if I hear who the choice is before Thursday, I’ll get it up right away.

Now that Mt. St. Mary’s head coach Robert Burke has made it official and resigned, the speculation there can now begin. I have heard that interim head coach Matt Henry will not be in the mix. The name that seems to have shot straight to the top of the list is George Washington assistant Pete Strickland. He spent 7 seasons as the head coach at Coastal Carolina (1999-2005). Before joining the GW staff this season, he spent 5 seasons on Sidney Lowe’s staff at NC State. Apparently he was in the mix when Burke got the job two years ago.

Sounds like there may be some interest from former URI head coach Jim Baron in the vacant Canisius gig. This would make sense – Baron in a NY guy who spent 9 seasons at St. Bonaventure before taking over at URI. Canisius (Buffalo, NY) is only 80 miles from St. Bonaventure (Olean, NY)– in fact, I remember playing at SBU a bunch of years ago, and we actually flew into Buffalo and had to bus it down to Olean. I’ll keep an eye on this one.

Speaking of URI….I have heard from two separate people about the apparent interest in the job by Loyola (MD) head coach Jimmy Patsos. His team just qualified for the NCAA tourney by winning the MAAC championship, and Patsos was named MAAC Coach of the Year. No doubt the long-time Maryland assistant will be a HOT name this off-season.

Staying in the great state of ‘Lil Rhody….there are a bunch of names that are popping up surrounding the Brown job. As of now, they are all very speculative. There is no AD in place at Brown, and the MBB search committee is still in the process of being former. I’ve heard that current interim coach TJ Sorrentine has the support of the players, but not sure who much that will help. One coach rumored to have interest in the job is Oregon State associate head Doug Stewart. Not only is he a Brown alum (’94), he spent two seasons on Craig Robinson’s staff at Brown before the pair moved on to Oregon State.

I mentioned the UC-Colorado Springs job yesterday and said that Colorado Mesa associate head coach Andy Shantz would be a candidate. I have now also heard that Nebraska assistant Jeremy Cox may be in play here. He is a Colorado Mesa (formerly Mesa State) grad with ties to UCCS AD Stephen Kirkham. With the situation at Nebraska a bit uncertain, it would only make sense that Cox get involved here.