Latest buzz on coaching carousel (cont.)

THE COACHING CAROUSEL

St. John's interviewed Paul Hewitt in Atlanta on Tuesday, but he is likely going to remain at Georgia Tech. AP

ST. JOHN'S SPECULATION

Let's start with Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who interviewed Tuesday night in Atlanta for the St. John's job. Many are assuming Hewitt is as good as gone, but I fully expect him to turn St. John's down. From what I am hearing, Hewitt is very happy living in Atlanta with his wife and three daughters, the oldest of whom is a sophomore in high school. Hewitt's relationship with Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich has been a little spotty in recent years (Hewitt was not hired by Radakovich), but Radakovich has been more publicly supportive of Hewitt the last few weeks, and I think Georgia Tech's strong finish has kept the wolves at bay for now.

If Hewitt turns down the job as I expect, where does St. John's go next? It's hard to say. The school had shown some interest early on in Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, but that seems to have cooled. They might insult Greenberg by going back to him at this late stage, which would mean being rebuffed a second time. The idea that St. John's could lure a Billy Donovan or a Rick Pitino was always a pipe dream, and athletic director Chris Monasch has a little egg on his face because those guys gave him the Heisman before he could even officially pursue them.

Two other names that have been bandied about for St. John's are Cornell's Steve Donahue and Siena's Fran McCaffery, but I don't believe either has been contacted. It may look early on like Monasch is fumbling his way through this process, but keep in mind it also looked that way at Arizona last year and they still ended up with a first-rate hire in Sean Miller.

Donahue and McCaffery could still find themselves in the mix at Seton Hall. Hofstra's Tom Pecora wanted that job but couldn't get an interview, but he got plucked by Fordham on Tuesday.

WHO WILL OREGON HIRE?

Moving out west, there is a ton of buzz about what Oregon is going to do -- or more specifically, what uber-alum Phil Knight is going to do. Knight has already spent a barrel of money building a new arena named for his late son, and word is that he is prepared to spend whatever is necessary to land a big-time hire. I've heard the school is initially focusing on four such names: Steve Alford, Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan and Jamie Dixon. I spoke with New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs on Tuesday, and he told me that he met with Alford earlier that day and the school is going to adjust Alford's contract, which currently runs through 2017, to give him added incentive to stay. Krebs also told me that nobody, including Oregon, has contacted him to request permission to speak with Alford. I spoke with someone else close to Alford on Tuesday who echoed that, so it looks like Alford is staying put.

It should surprise no one that Oregon is reportedly interested in Gonzaga's Mark Few, who is from the state and an alum of the school. There was a report from a local media outlet in Spokane that Few was leaning towards taking the job, but I don't believe he will. I spoke Tuesday night with someone who is close to Few, and he said he would be "shocked" if he left Gonzaga for Oregon or anyplace else. I've always felt that Few's loyalty to his alma mater was overstated, and the sudden change of athletic directors at Oregon can't help. Few really values his time with his family and he has a secure, happy lifestyle up in Spokane. If Few surprises everyone and takes the job, Zags assistant Leon Rice will most likely succeed him at Gonzaga.

Tubby Smith's name is going to be floated again this year because there is a widespread assumption that he is not all that happy at Minnesota. A source at the school told me that Smith is disappointed that the school has yet to build the practice facility it promised him, plus Smith does not believe the school backed him up enough this season by suspending some of his players for transgressions off the court. And as we all know, it is very cold in Minneapolis. Smith's name was linked to the vacancy at Auburn last weekend, but a source close to Smith told me that nobody has contacted Smith's representatives about any job. From what I'm told, Smith would not appreciate schools floating their interest in him through the media or other third parties, nor would he be inclined to take a job at Oregon if he knew the school preferred Alford.

At the end of the day, a lot of people believe Oregon could end up with Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon, who coached there briefly as an assistant. Another logical choice would be St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett, who will be red-hot after taking his Gaels to the Sweet 16. But those are barely-educated guesses.

ELSEWHERE ...

As for Iowa, I was told that the school inquired about Dayton's Brian Gregory but Gregory wasn't interested. Two of Iowa's prime targets now are Utah's Jim Boylen and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall.

But the sleeper job is DePaul. While it is largely considered to be one of the worst jobs in the Big East, I am told that the school has been throwing around some outlandish salary figures in hopes of attracting a big name. I'm talking upwards of $3 million per year. If DePaul is really able to pay that kind of scratch, then they will find that a lot more people have interest than widely assumed. Steve Lavin made his interest in the job known as soon as it became available, but I have to believe if the school was going to go in that direction it would have done so by now. Isiah Thomas would crawl through broken glass to get the job, but I'm told the administration at DePaul doesn't want him because of the baggage he carries from his time with the Knicks. If the school can't land a big name then I believe UTEP's Tony Barbee will be in the mix, especially now that his good friend William Wesley, a.k.a. Worldwide Wes, is on the verge of becoming an agent representing coaches for Creative Artists Agency.

Stay tuned, Hoopheads. The carousel will be moving pretty quickly the next few weeks.