Indiana University called. Tony Bennett answered. He listened. Then he decided to stay put.
“I had an exploratory conversation with Indiana,” the Washington State coach said Sunday afternoon, “and I am not going to pursue the Indiana job.”
Bennett said Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan called Saturday evening to gauge his interest.
“They went through the proper procedures by contacting (WSU athletic director) Jim Sterk and, like I said, I had an exploratory conversation with them,” Bennett said.
Sources close to the Washington State basketball program said Sunday an offer was actually made and Bennett turned it down.
However, Bennett wouldn’t speak to whether a formal offer was tendered, even correcting a question in that direction. “You said that, I didn’t,” he said.
Sterk said Greenspan called him on his cell phone Saturday night — Sterk was in Spokane for the NCAA women’s regional — and he gave the Indiana AD permission to talk with Bennett. A clause in Bennett’s contract makes it mandatory for the coach to inform Sterk and receive his permission before entertaining any offers.
“It says something about (Bennett) as a person, his values and his character,” Sterk said of Bennett’s decision to forgo the Indiana opportunity. “It’s great for us. It makes you feel good.
“Obviously as an athletic director we try to create that environment and this is a great validation of that.”
When asked if there were any other positions on his radar — his name has been mentioned in conjunction with openings at Cal and Louisiana State — Bennett answered “no,” and said there are many reasons why he wants to stay in Pullman, though he declined to go into detail in the short conversation.
Even before it became apparent Indiana had interest in Bennett, Sterk had started a fund-raising campaign to enhance the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
“We sat down with Tony and asked what was important as far as development of the program, the continued development of the program,” Sterk said. “We’ve got a good list.”
That list includes charter flights to ease the team’s travel burden caused by the remote nature of Pullman, salary increases for the assistant coaches and money to upgrade the non-conference schedule.
Bennett signed a new contract following last year’s 25-8 season, giving him a raise in his base salary to $800,000. The Cougars’ success this season should also bring him another $75,000 in bonuses.
Bennett’s name first surfaced in connection with the Indiana position immediately after Kelvin Sampson’s resignation in February following an NCAA inquiry. Ironically, Sampson coached at Washington State from 1987 to 1994.
The Bennett rumors heated up Saturday morning with an Internet report he had been offered the job. But Bennett said the first contact came that evening and, though he thought about it, he decided Sunday to say no.
Bennett is 52-17 in his two years at WSU, having guided the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in school history. He came to WSU with his father Dick in 2003, and served as an assistant for three years before taking over as head coach last season.
The Cougars, who finished third in the Pac-10 this season, earned a Sweet 16 berth before losing 68-47 to North Carolina last Thursday.
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