Vermont coach Mike Lonergan met with Holy Cross officials on Saturday and is the favorite to replace departed coach Ralph Willard, a source with knowledge said.
Lonergan, 43, was the America East Coach of the Year in 2007 after guiding the Catamounts to a 25-8 record and an appearance in the NIT.
Last year he lead Vermont to a 24-9 overall record, a share of the America East regular season championship and only their second-ever postseason victory in school history. Vermont knocked off Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational before losing on the road in overtime to the eventual CBI champion Oregon State in the next round.
Willard left Holy Cross to join Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville.
Lonergan was previously an assistant at Colgate and under Gary Williams at Maryland.
He has family connections to Holy Cross because his father, Jack, was a left-handed pitcher at who hurled on the Crusaders’ 1952 NCAA College World Series championship team.
Other coaches in the mix are Notre Dame assistant Sean Kearney; former Boston University coach Dennis Wolf; Kansas assistant Joe Dooley; and possibly Cornell coach Steve Donahue.
WILLIAMS VISITING MEMPHIS
Derrick Williams, the 6-7, 210-pound forward who got his release from USC, will visit Memphis Sunday night, per Dan Wolken of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“I’m coming (Sunday) night,” wrote Williams, an ex-USC signee, who will travel from his home in La Mirada, Calif., for an official visit to the Memphis campus.
Williams has three more official visits remaining.
“I’m going to see how it goes,” Williams said. “I might take two, possibly three. It depends on how good the visits go.”
He won’t meet with Memphis head coach Josh Pastner until Monday morning, when the 48-hour clock kicks in.
“He just sounds really enthusiastic and sounds like he knows what he’s doing,” Williams said of Pastner. “He’s a young coach, and that’s what I like. He wants me to come in and be an impact player.”
FATHER’S DAY
Here’s a nice Father’s Day piece on Kyrie and Drederick Irving from my esteemed colleague, Kevin Armstrong of SI.com.
