By Dustin Dow
Enquirer staff writer

Despite his denial last week that he was a candidate for the Ohio State job, Xavier coach Thad Matta has been in communication with OSU athletic director Andy Geiger.

According to a source, Ohio State has continued to make a run at Matta over the last week, and Matta and Geiger could meet as soon as this morning for an interview, probably in Columbus.

Matta, 36, did not respond to messages left on his cell phone Tuesday night, and Geiger declined to comment when reached at home.

Last Tuesday, Matta told the Enquirer: "I'm not a candidate. It's that plain and that simple." He also said then that he had not been contacted and did not expect to meet with Geiger.

But as Geiger's search has reportedly included on-campus interviews with Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings and Rice coach Willis Wilson, it apparently has continued to focus on Matta as well.

The XU coach has a record of 78-23 in three seasons at Xavier and took the Musketeers to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time last season.

He has been mentioned as a candidate since the job opened June 8 when Geiger fired Jim O'Brien, who admitted to paying a player $6,000 in 1999.

Matta has received improvements to his contract after each of his seasons at Xavier, and is currently signed through 2013. Ohio State or Matta probably would be expected to pay a buyout to terminate that contract, though the terms of the buyout are not known.

The Columbus Dispatch reported in today's editions that Geiger and Ohio State President Karen Holbrook are expected to meet with at least two candidates on campus, one of whom could be Matta.

Wilson and Stallings both met with Geiger on Tuesday in Columbus, according to multiple reports. Each has been interviewed twice for the Ohio State job during the process that has lasted almost a month.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com