ASU Coaching Search Heats Up

0:00On March 15, Selection Sunday has come and gone for the NCAA tournament, and while Arizona stayed missed out on the field of 68 teams, the results still hit close to home for their coaching search. Athletics director Graham Rossini is pushing ahead to hire a new head coach, and two top candidates now face big changes based on where their teams land in. Randy Bennett, the 63-year-old Arizona native at St. Mary's, earned a seventh seed in the South region for the 50-year in a row. His gales play Texas A&M on Thursday in Oklahoma City, which means he's tied up with tournament prep and unlikely to interview anytime soon. Bennett has turned down jobs before, including past interest from Arizona State, sticking with St. Mary's through 12 tournament appearances. A deep run by his team could drag out the process even more, leaving receiving little patients to wait. Meanwhile, Eric Olan and New Mexico just became fully available after his lobos missed the dance.

1:00They finished 23 wins and 10 losses, but stumbled late, losing three of their last four regular season games and falling in the conference. Simise, with Olan free to talk now, after a standout 30-win year at UC San Diego and his first season in Albuquerque amid leadership shakeups there, Arizona. State could line up a meeting soon. As the search heats up, keep an eye on whether these developments lead to real movement and tempi.