Brown University men’s basketball coach Craig Robinson is being considered for the PC coaching job.

AP / Stew Milne

For Providence College basketball fans still smarting from the rejection sent their way by George Mason’s Jim Larranaga earlier in the week, how would you like to hire a coach whose team hung 50 points on the Patriots in a single half just two months ago?

PC athletic director Bob Driscoll traveled to San Antonio yesterday and while he plans on taking in tonight’s Final Four games, he’s also in town to resume his search for a replacement for Tim Welsh. Driscoll has said he plans to meet with the candidates on his “short list” while he’s here and he could emerge with a favorite by Monday.

One name that’s appeared in The Journal since PC fired Welsh three weeks ago is that of Tim O’Shea, the former URI and Boston College assistant who is now the head coach at Ohio University. O’Shea is one of the coaches likely to talk with Driscoll over the next few days. Various Internet reports yesterday claimed O’Shea would interview with PC today but neither Driscoll nor O’Shea chose to comment publicly when asked about a potential meeting.

O’Shea just wrapped up his seventh season at Ohio where he led the Bobcats to a 20-13 season, the fourth consecutive season in which Ohio has won 19 or more games. Included was a 69-57 thumping of Larranaga’s George Mason team in February when the Bobcats erupted for 50 second-half points.

Another likely discussion will come with Brown’s Craig Robinson, who did not return phone calls yesterday. The second-year Bears coach has seen his national profile rise after he won a school-record 19 games in only his second season on College Hill.

After getting spurned by Larranaga, Driscoll consulted the search firm PC has used to help identify coaching candidates. A call went out to Davidson’s Bob McKillop, but he wants to stay and coach returning All-American Stephen Curry. That’s dropped Driscoll a bit further on his “short list” where O’Shea and Robinson, and perhaps Massachusetts coach Travis Ford, reside.

The Final Four is the epicenter of basketball for the next three days and San Antonio is abuzz with rumors. PC’s opening is far from the only job being discussed. LSU, Marquette and Oklahoma State are the plum available jobs with UMass’ Ford a leading candidate at LSU and names like Tony Bennett (Washington State), Rick Majerus (St. Louis) and Bruce Weber (Illinois) linked to Marquette. A lesser-profile job drawing interest is Western Kentucky, and North Providence native Kenny McDonald, now an assistant to Rick Barnes at Texas, is reported to be a finalist.

One major position was filled yesterday when the University of California hired Mike Montgomery, the former coach of hated rival Stanford. Also, Loyola-Marymount will hire Billy Bayno, the former UMass assistant and UNLV head coach.

kmcnamar@projo.com