Graves will decide after family vacation

Gonzaga has made a contract offer to women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves, who interviewed with Oregon State earlier this week after the most successful season in Bulldogs history.

“GU stepped up, there is no question,” Graves, who is vacationing with his family in California, said on Friday. “We’re happy where we’re at, but we’re taking time to think things over. We’ll make a decision when we get back.”

A report in the Corvallis, Ore., Gazette-Times on Friday said Graves had accepted the contract and was no longer interested in the OSU job.

“There is no deal,” Graves said. “Obviously there was just a misunderstanding.”

OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis is going to the Women’s Final Four this weekend to talk to other potential candidates to replace Judy Spolestra, who was fired last month after the Beavers went 6-23 in her 10th season, finishing last in the Pac-10.

Gonzaga is 80-69 in Graves’ five years, including 28-4 this past season, which earned the coach his second West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award and the Russell Athletic/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Coach of the Year.

“The ball is in Kelly’s court now,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. “He knows what we intend to do. We don’t want him to leave. We hope this is the right place for him.”

Roth wouldn’t disclose the length or terms of the offer.

“We had a good talk,” Roth said of Wednesday’s meeting. “It will be a multi-year contract that gives Kelly and his family security. The way we approached this in the past on the men’s side is we don’t get reactive. We want to approach and maintain that consistency on the women’s side. I had already talked to the president and vice president before the end of the season on what we can do. We want to be proactive. Kelly has done a fantastic job and we hope he continues to do a fantastic job.”

The Bulldogs participated in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the second straight year and third time in school history. That came about because the Bulldogs, despite a 27-3 record, did not get an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament after losing in the WCC Tournament championship game.