Travis Ford’s intensity will remain on the UMass sideline after he became the latest coach to turn down an opportunity to coach the Providence College Friars.

AP / David Gard

AMHERST, Mass. — That’s two kicks in the teeth for the Providence College basketball program. The question is how many more can Friar fans take.

For the second time in a little more than a week, PC was rejected by a leading candidate for its vacant coaching position. On April 2’ it was George Mason’s Jim Larranaga, a noted alumnus, who rejected a contract offer that was said to be at least five years and as much as $1 million per season. Yesterday, after a courtship that included a campus tour and tour of the Renaissance City that the candidate termed “very impressive,” University of Massachusetts coach Travis Ford said no to PC.

So that’s coaches from the Colonial Athletic Association and the Atlantic 10 turning PC and the Big East down. Who’s up next?

PC and its athletic director, Bob Driscoll, weren’t talking last night and haven’t said much through the four-week search to replace Tim Welsh. Driscoll has insisted that the time his search takes is irrelevant. It’s the end result that counts. While true, the Friars also must weigh their hunt for a new coach with the fact that the process is growing more uncomfortable by the day.

“It’s disappointing. To be turned down like this is disappointing,” said Joe Buckley, a PC alumnus and longtime season ticket holder.

All Driscoll can do is charge on. He has insisted that he wants a candidate who Friar fans can rally behind, one who can change a woe-is-me culture that insists that PC is destined to be a Big East also-ran. Getting to the finish line has proven to be painful, however.

Where does Providence go next? That’s very unclear whether Driscoll wants to keep aiming for a ‘name’ college head coach who’s already established himself. Two men from that category just turned him down. Driscoll has spoken with Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown and one coach close to Brown insisted earlier this week that the 68-year-old “wants to coach again. He knows Providence’s team cold.”

If Driscoll’s next target is someone he knows will likely take the job, he can turn to a few men he’s already spoken to: Ohio University’s Tim O’Shea, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla and Albany’s Will Brown. Driscoll met with several other coaches at the Final Four in San Antonio last weekend and contacts he established there will probably be fleshed out. Drake’s Keno Davis, George Washington’s Karl Hobbs, Wright State’s Brad Brownell, Florida associate head coach Larry Shyatt and Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins are coaches PC may wish to add to its list.

This is the likely jumping off point that PC may have entertained hiring ex-Brown coach Craig Robinson. He didn’t want to wait, however, and signed with Oregon State on Monday.

Ford, who joined Larranaga in using his talks with PC to sweeten his present contract (details of which were not announced last night), conceded that saying no to Driscoll was difficult. He said he had little interest in the job at first but grew more curious after talks with his college head coach (Rick Pitino) and assistant coach (Billy Donovan) from his days as a star at the University of Kentucky.

“It was a couple long days, no question,” said Ford. “When you have success like we had, things like this happen. With the Providence job, there are a lot of connections for me to that job which run deep. [Pitino and Donovan] gave great advice. One thing they never did was push me one way or the other. Obviously those two guys know [Providence] very, very well.”

Ford, who appeared at a team banquet where boosters cheered the news of his commitment to UMass, said he was impressed with all that PC had to offer. “I learned a lot about their program in the last two to three days. It is a very impressive program. A great program. They’re committed to being the best but this is a place where I’ve developed a lot of relationships. I love the people that I’m working for and that’s probably the number-one thing,” he said.

Driscoll clearly had Ford interested in the job and while he said the challenge of winning at PC “was exciting to me,” he simply could not pull the trigger.

“I have a lot of respect for the Providence program,” said UMass athletic director John McCutcheon, “and that makes this all the more significant for us.”

kmcnamar@projo.com