Oregon receives OK to talk with Mizzou's Anderson

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- One year after signing a seven-year contract extension at Missouri, Mike Anderson is talking with Oregon about its head coaching job.

Missouri spokesman Dave Reiter said the university gave Oregon permission Thursday night to speak with Anderson, who was in El Paso, Texas, to play in a charity golf tournament sponsored by former mentor Nolan Richardson. Anderson coached under Richardson at Arkansas from 1985 to 2002.

Reiter said it's not unusual for the university to grant schools permission to talk to its coaches about job vacancies. He said he didn't know for sure whether Anderson had met with anyone about the Oregon position.

Reiter expected Anderson to make a statement later Friday.

The Portland Oregonian said it confirmed on Thursday that Anderson had met with Pat Kilkenny, a former Oregon athletic director who is leading the search for a new Oregon coach.

The Ducks have been without a head coach since Ernie Kent was fired a month ago after a 16-16 season and ninth-place finish in the Pac-10.

Anderson brought an up-tempo style to Missouri in 2006 that has proven successful, culminating in a school-record 31 wins in the 2008-2009 season and a trip to the West Regional Final.

He was rewarded for that season with a seven-year, $10.85 million contract extension.

The Tigers went 23-11 this season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament despite the loss of three 1,000-point scorers. Missouri's 54-win total the last two seasons is second-best in school history and Anderson has a strong nucleus returning plus a handful of top-rated recruits.

Kent was Oregon's winningest coach, taking the Ducks to the NCAA tournament five times, twice advancing to the regional finals.

But the past two years have been brutal for the Ducks, with the team going 24-39 overall and seeing a significant decline in attendance.

Whoever is hired as Oregon's new coach will begin his tenure in a new, $227 million arena that is scheduled to open for the start of the 2010-11 Pac-10 season.

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