By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Shields is expected to announce today that he will retire after this season as Northern Kentucky University's men's basketball coach. That's the speculation about the news conference scheduled for 2 p.m. by the school's athletic department.

NKU officials would not comment Monday, and Shields did not return phone messages seeking comment. But he told the Enquirer in May that he likely would retire from his post after this season, and he instructed some of his players to attend the news conference today.

Shields has won 750 games in a 39-year career that has seen him become Northern Kentucky's winningest coach in both the high school and college ranks. He is 290-155 in 15 years at NKU and took his team to the NCAA Division II championship games in 1996 and '97. He went 460-257 in the high school ranks, covering 10 years at now-defunct St. Thomas and 13 at Highlands.

"I'm inclined to think this would be my last year," he told the Enquirer in May. "I feel it's time to pass the torch."