Would George Mason coach Jim Larranaga come to PC?

AP / Jack Dempsey

This will be the key week in the Providence College coaching search. Athletic director Bob Driscoll is scheduled to attend the Final Four in San Antonio, where he’ll be able to meet with prospects face to face. One candidate off the board is Kent State’s Jim Christian, who accepted the job at Texas Christian yesterday. One who is willing to listen to PC’s overtures is alumnus Jim Larranaga of George Mason, although media reports that he’s emerged as the favorite are premature. If the 58-year-old Larranaga wants to come to the Big East, he’ll be leaving a good situation in Virginia but his contract won’t prohibit such a move.

Under terms of a contract extension that was made public last year and runs through 2012, Larranaga has an out in his deal that allows him to leave without penalty if he terminates his contract between the end of the season and July 15. This clause is a rarity in collegiate coaching. Larranaga earns a base salary of $394,000 plus assorted bonuses for playing in the NCAA Tournament (10 percent) and winning at least 19 games ($10,000). The Patriots finished 23-11 and lost in the first round of the tourney to Notre Dame. Larranaga also has a retention bonus of $75,000 if he’s still at GMU every March 30 (today).

Those three bonuses bump Larranaga’s deal to $520,000 but he makes much more than that. He’s allowed five weeks of undisclosed basketball camp receipts and coming off a Final Four run in 2006, Larranaga has contracted to make speeches for the prestigious Washington Speakers Bureau. Those duties earned him $274,000 from April-December in ’06, but no figures were available for 2007.

What does this all mean for PC? Larranaga makes a very healthy living from George Mason and would probably require a deal in the $800,000 to $1-million range if Driscoll decides he’s the coach he wants. And Larranaga doesn’t have a painful buyout pill in his contract.

URI’s future looking up

URI’s five-player recruiting class all enjoyed strong seasons. The players set to make the most instant impact appear to be point guard Stevie Mejia (Lawrence Academy) and 6-9 forward Orion Outerbridge (New Hampton) who both played leading roles at good NEPSAC schools. Mejia will push Marquis Jones for Parfait Bitee’s starting point guard spot while Outerbridge will contend for frontcourt playing time.

Philadelphia guard Jamal Wilson didn’t have a great year but still made honorable mention All-City. In South Jersey, 6-8 Ryan Brooks of Absecon averaged 16.9 points, 8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks en route to leading his team to a 27-3 record. Brooks may spend a year at prep school and the Rams are still evaluating the academic status of Randy Dezouvre, an impressive athletic guard from Montreal. Jim Baron also adds forward Ben Eaves, the transfer from Connecticut who’ll help off the boards and shooting the ball.

Expect changes at UConn

You’ve got to hand it to UConn coach Jim Calhoun. The old mentor cuts to the chase quickly. Just a few days after his team lost to San Diego in the first round of the NCAAs, he gathered the state’s media and all but said some underclassmen won’t be welcomed back to Storrs. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Calhoun said some players’ poor academics and some “social behavior” problems have backed him into a corner and you know who wins those battles. He said that UConn will welcome “four or five” new players and since he has room only for two, a few more scholarships will soon open via either transfers or if center Hasheem Thabeet goes pro.

“So if you see any movement within our roster, which, I’m telling you right now, you will...,” Calhoun said.

Hanging on to Thabeet is priority number one but he’s probably gone. The NBA loves big guys and it doesn’t get much bigger than the 7-foot-3, 270-pounder who is a certain top 12 pick. The real problem lies in an overcrowded backcourt. A.J. Price, if he makes a full recovery from ACL surgery, is the leader. Craig Austrie and Jerome Dyson have started at the off-guard and Calhoun still has Doug Wiggins and Donnell Beverly plus two incoming freshmen in point guard Kemba Walker, a McDonald’s All-American from New York, and Scottie Haralson, a wing shooter from Jackson, Miss. That’s seven guards, a number that could make Wiggins and possibly Beverly expendable.

For observers who feel UConn didn’t have a good year, Calhoun offered the following. “The most wins the university ever had before 1986 was 23,” he told the Hartford Courant. “We won 24 this year. So some perspective may be in order. ... I think we’re building, growing and could be terrific next year. But some things have to happen.”

Pro draft will be well stocked

This is shaping up as an interesting NBA Draft with the college scene stocked with big men who are either seniors or rumored to be considering leaving school. The long list includes, Brooks and Robin Lopez (Stanford), UConn’s Thabeet, Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan (Texas A&M), Kosta Koufos (Ohio State), Marreese Speights (Florida), Jason Thompson (Rider), JaVale McGee (Nevada), DeVon Hardin (Cal), Anthony Randolph (LSU), Nikola Pekovic (Serbia), Nathan Jawai (Australia) and John Riek (Sudan).

The fastest-rising pro prospect in the draft is Joe Alexander, the West Virginia forward who’ll have to decide whether he wants to return to school for his senior season. Joining Alexander and Thabeet on the Big East’s list of players who the conference needs to return are Luke Harangody of Notre Dame (very likely), Donte Green of Syracuse (likely), Louisville forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams (unclear) and Dominic James of Marquette (no NBA market).

kmcnamar@projo.com