SYRACUSE — Seton Hall is moving quickly to replace Bobby Gonzalez.
Pat Hobbs, Dean of the Seton Hall Law School, and Joe Quinlan, the school’s AD, interviewed Siena coach Fran McCaffery Tuesday night at an off-campus location and McCaffery, 50, remains the school’s No. 1 option, according to The Star-Ledger.
“There’s been no offer yet,” one source told the Ledger.
McCaffery (pictured courtesy Siena Athletics) reportedly said Tuesday on his weekly radio spot on WTMM-FM in Albany that he “will listen” if another school approached him.
WFAN reported Wednesday that McCaffery visited Seton Hall earlier that day but didn’t sign a contract. The station also said McCaffery hoped to speak with Georgia Tech, but Paul Hewitt is still the Yellow Jackets’ head coach. He met Tuesday with St. John’s AD Chris Monasch but has not yet taken the job.
At least one Division 1 assistant coach with knowledge of the situation doubted whether McCaffery would take the Seton Hall job for a variety of reasons.
“If you’re [McCaffery], for $150,000 more [than what you make at Siena] you’re taking over a mess,” the assistant said of the Seton Hall situation. “Georgia Tech and Seton Hall are recruiting jobs. And Georgia Tech’s an easier recruiting job because all the kids are right there are in Atlanta.”
Robert Morris coach Mike Rice also spoke with Seton Hall officials Wednesday, telling the Ledger he “has had conversations” with them.
Rice, a Fordham alum, is no longer in the mix for that job after the school announced Wednesday that Hofstra coach Tom Pecora would take the job.
Cornell coach Steve Donahue is also reportedly in the mix at Seton Hall, but he is here preparing his team to face Kentucky in an East Region semifinal Thursday night.
“Obviously, I get calls about different things,” Donahue said. “What goes through my mind is I shouldn’t be talking about this…because it’s unfair for this group.”
He added: “I’m going to work my tail off to get us to somehow compete with Kentucky and try to win the game.”
Seton Hall has also requested permission to speak with Iona coach Kevin Willard, who would potentially bring former Seton Hall star and Iona assistant Shaheen Holloway with him, according to MSG.com. Still, a source close to that situation said he wasn’t aware that Seton Hall had requested permission on Willard.
Former Seton Hall standout Adrian Griffin, now an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks, has also had preliminary talks with Seton Hall.
“There’s not a better guy than Griffin to restore [Seton Hall’s] image,” one NBA source said. “He’s young but if he brought in a veteran staff and had the right people with him.”
The Bergen Record also reported that Quinlan interviewed Vermont coach Mike Lonergan in Vermont.
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