Usf Assistant Joins List Of Three Who Seek Nic Men’s Hoop Job

North Idaho College’s search for a new men’s basketball coach has grown to four finalists with the addition of University of San Francisco assistant coach Bill Carr.

Carr, 30, joins former Idaho assistant Hugh Watson, NIC assistant Brian Hancock and Central Connecticut State head coach Mark Adams as candidates. Three finalists were disclosed on Tuesday.

NIC wasn’t able to contact Carr until Wednesday to inform him he had been elevated from an alternate to a finalist.

The energetic Carr has been at USF for six years and was a former Dons player. He is noted as an accomplished recruiter.

Or, as USF coach Phil Mathews said, “a relentless recruiter.”

Watson is expected to be the first to interview. He’ll arrive in Coeur d’Alene on Monday and will probably be interviewed on Tuesday. NIC athletic director Jim Headley is trying to fit travel plans into the hectic recruiting schedules of Adams and Carr.

“I’m really excited,” Headley said. “We’ve got four quality candidates.”

Of the addition of Carr, Headley said, “Our initial thought was three finalists and two alternates, but with the quality, we decided to bring ‘em all in.”

Adams’ interest in NIC has raised eyebrows. It’s uncommon for a Division I head coach to pursue a junior college job.

“I just felt I owed it to myself and my family,” Adams said. “While the timing isn’t perfect - we’re turning the corner here - when I saw NIC opened it kind of piqued my interest.”

Adams, an assistant for two years at Washington State under Kelvin Sampson, has been at CCSU for five seasons, compiling a 40-95 record.

Last year, his team had the best year in Adams’ tenure at 13-15. His previous four teams didn’t reach double-digit wins and averaged 20 losses per season. Average attendance is less than 1,000 per game.

Adams, who has coached at Idaho State, Rocky Mountain and Western Oregon State, said he misses this area of the country.

“Obviously there are a lot of pluses to living in that part of the country, but the basketball situation interests me, too,” Adams said. “One thing I’ve realized in Division I basketball is, if you can find a job where you can be competitive nationally, that’s the type of job you want to be involved in. At Cental Connecticut, while we’ve made tremendous progress, we can’t win a national championship.”

CCSU athletic director C.J. Jones didn’t offer a ringing endorsement, but he said Adams isn’t under pressure either.

“He’s done a nice job,” Jones said. “I think some of it (Adams’ interest in NIC) has to do with the location.”

It’s known, however, that Adams is entering the final year of his contract and he’s been hoping for a 3- to 5-year extension. Thus far, no extension has been offered.

It’s also been reported in Connecticut papers that Jones, the second-year A.D., has strong ties with UConn assistant Howie Dickenman, a CCSU graduate. When discussion of Adams’ future has developed, Dickenman’s name surfaces as a successor.

Adams said he’s proud of the job he’s done at CCSU, a Division I member for 10 years.

“Out of 301 Division I schools, we were either 300 or 301 (in the power ratings) when I first came here,” Adams said. “This year we won 13 games and made it to the (Mid-Continent) conference semifinals.

“We’ve attracted attention because we have the top shot blocker in the nation in (7-foot-3) Keith Closs, who broke David Robinson’s record. So, we’ve completely changed the perception of the program the last two years.”

CCSU was 218th out of 305 teams in last season’s power ratings. One of Adams’ assistants, Mark Borgeson, also applied for the NIC job and used Adams as a reference, but wasn’t one of the finalists.

Hancock has retiring coach Rolly Williams’ endorsement for the job.

“I’m excited about getting the opportunity to interview next week,” Hancock said.

Though NIC doesn’t have any commitments, Hancock said he has been recruiting and NIC is in the running with several players.

Attempts to reach Watson were unsuccessful. He has been a high school coach in Tennessee the last three years after a stint as an assistant at Idaho.

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition.