By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Assistant coach Sean Miller's days at Xavier University may be numbered.

Xavier's associate head coach for the past two seasons is one of the top candidates for the vacant head coaching position at Illinois State, after Michigan State assistant Brian Gregory removed himself from the running. Miller returned to Cincinnati Sunday night from New Orleans, site of the Final Four, and said he had a conversation with ISU athletic director Perk Weisenburger in New Orleans, and that the two parties have begun the interview process.

The next step would be for Miller, 34, to travel to the Normal, Ill., campus for an on-site interview. Miller has not been offered the job, but if offered, he would probably accept it considering Illinois State's position in the Missouri Valley Conference, one of the best mid-major leagues in the nation.

ISU spokesman Todd Kober said school officials would not comment on candidates.

"There's no timetable set for the search," Kober said, "because of the events of the last few days."

Illinois State appeared to have the coach it wanted in Gregory, who was reportedly looking at houses in Normal late last week. But Kober said Gregory informed ISU officials on Saturday he was no longer interested in the job.

Another ISU finalist, former Pittsburgh assistant Jamie Dixon, who coached with new UCLA coach Ben Howland, has also been mentioned as a candidate for the head job at Pittsburgh.

This is the second time Miller's name has come up in a job search this offseason. He spoke with Wright State athletic director Mike Cusack about that opening, but decided he wasn't interested. Ohio State assistant Paul Biancardi filled that position.

Illinois State has made six NCAA Tournament appearances, the last in 1998.

NO PITT FOR MATTA: Xavier head coach Thad Matta may or may not be a candidate for the Pittsburgh job, but he says he hasn't thought of leaving Xavier for the Big East program.

"No," Matta said when asked if he'd be interested in Pittsburgh. "I've got the greatest situation I could have at Xavier."

As of Sunday night, Pittsburgh officials had not contacted either Matta or Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski, both of whom are in New Orleans for the Final Four.

Matta has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Panthers job since Ben Howland left Pittsburgh for UCLA last Wednesday. Other leading candidates, whose names have popped up more frequently, are Wake Forest and former Xavier coach Skip Prosser, North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek, Memphis coach John Calipari, Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez and former Pittsburgh assistant Jamie Dixon, who worked under Howland at Pittsburgh.

Matta, 35, is in his second year of a nine-year contract at Xavier and has led XU to a 52-12 record over two seasons. Xavier won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title each year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament both years as well. In 2002, the Musketeers won the A-10 Tournament Championship as well as the regular-season title.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com