Fraschilla

Brown University may be losing one of its most successful coaches ever and Providence College would lose a leading candidate for its vacant men’s basketball job in the process.

Chris Humm, Brown’s sports information director, couldn’t confirm reports from FoxSports.com, CBSSports.com and The Portland Oregonian last night that Craig Robinson has accepted the job as the next coach at Oregon State.

“I can’t confirm or deny those reports,” Humm said.

Robinson, who is in San Antonio, Texas, attending the Final Four, did not return phone calls last night. Neither did Brown athletic director Michael Goldberger.

Robinson met with OSU officials in San Antonio but also spoke with PC athletic director Bob Driscoll over the weekend. It is unclear, however, how serious the Friars’ interest in hiring Robinson was.

Robinson, the brother-in-law of presidential candidate Barack Obama, led Brown to a school-record 19 wins this season in his second year on the East Side. He finished 19-10 and 11-3 in the Ivy League, good for second place. The Bears qualified for the College Basketball Invitational and lost in the first round to Ohio University.

Robinson came to Brown after spending six years as an assistant at Northwestern.

Robinson will be taking on one of the most difficult coaching jobs in the country. Oregon State fired its coach, Jay John, in January and finished its season without a victory (0-18) in Pac-10 play. The Beavers have won only eight conference games in the previous three seasons and won its last conference title in 1990.

While Robinson is potentially out of the picture at PC, one candidate who has emerged in the last two days is Fran Fraschilla, a former Providence College assistant coach and current ESPN analyst.

Fraschilla was among a group of contenders who was expected to meet with PC’s Driscoll over the weekend at the Final Four in San Antonio. Brown’s Robinson and Ohio University’s Tim O’Shea were also on Driscoll’s short list and there was a report by The New York Daily News earlier yesterday claiming that PC had “focused its search on Robinson, O’Shea and Albany’s Will Brown.”

There is a natural connection for Fraschilla to the Providence job. First, he worked with Rick Barnes as a Friar assistant from 1989-92 before leaving to become the head coach at Manhattan College. Fraschilla moved on to St. John’s for two seasons (where he was 35-24) and then New Mexico, where his contract was bought out after three NIT appearances.

Beginning in 2004, Fraschilla began writing articles for ESPN.com and he has called games as a color analyst for several seasons.

Fraschilla has never ruled out a return to college coaching and he was interviewed by South Florida last spring. A New York native, he is clearly best suited to work in the East. But after being away from the sidelines for six seasons, it’s surprising he’s still able to spark interest for Big East head coaching positions.

Albany’s Brown, who is 36 years old, led the Great Danes to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and ’07 before falling to 15-15 this season.

PC’s Driscoll would like to hire a coach sometime this week.

He’s expected to be in Denver, however, for the start of the men’s hockey Frozen Four, which begins Thursday.

kmcnamar@projo.com