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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Eastern’s decision expected soon

EAGLES

The interviews are over, the four finalists poked, prodded and questioned. Which one will be picked as Eastern Washington's latest mens' basketball coach?

The smart money is on Kirk Earlywine, an assistant at North Carolina-Wilmington, who has connections with EWU interim athletic director Michael Westfall.

But Westfall is quoted in Dave Trimmer's story this morning saying, "There is no front runner, they're all exceptional candidates. I've said before, you could put all the names in a hat, draw one and we could be successful with anyone in this group."

The question then becomes who will be the most successful?

The only one with any Division I head coaching experience is Rod Jensen, who compiled a 109-93 mark in seven seasons at Boise State. His Broncos' best season came in 1998-99, when they were 21-8 playing in the Big West Conference.

Jeff Hironaka has been the head coach at Seattle Pacific, an NCAA Division II school, for five seasons, posting a 94-49 record. Jim Shaw has been a longtime assistant at many programs, most recently at the University of Washington. And Earlywine was a head coach for just one season.

Whenever Eastern makes a decision, you'll find it on Dave's blog.



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