No one knows who the Oklahoma men’s next basketball coach will be, but the Sooners do have an interim one.
Bob Hoffman, who was an assistant to Kelvin Sampson the last two seasons, was elevated to interim coach Thursday.
Hoffman was the only Sampson assistant still in town Thursday. OU assistants Ray McCallum and Bennie Seltzer had already left for Indianapolis earlier in the day to attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention and the Final Four. Hoffman will join them there today.
Until OU athletic director Joe Castiglione finds a new coach, Hoffman will be the one in charge of maintaining contact with current players, OU’s incoming recruiting class and just being the face of the program until Sampson’s successor is announced.
Hoffman said all involved were coping with Sampson’s surprise departure.
“Each day is a little better, but it’s still painful,” he said.
How long any of Sampson’s assistant coaches remain on the staff is the big question. Hoffman, an Oklahoma native who was the head coach at Texas-Pan American for five seasons before coming to OU in 2004, said he has talked to Castiglione about the job.
“I would always have interest in being here at Oklahoma,” he said. “It’s my home state, I grew up watching OU basketball and I have coached at every level in the state except this.
“I’d love that opportunity, but I’m not going to play that out in the papers. I know they’ll wait and see whatever is best for the university.”
Hoffman admitted Thursday he was a candidate for the head coaching job at Southeast Missouri State and Texas-San Antonio.
“I’ve had some other conversations,” he said. “I’m going to see what happens, but I’d prefer to be here.”
McCallum, who was the head coach at Houston before joining the Sooner staff two seasons ago, is believed to be a leading candidate for the head coaching jobs at both Ball State, his alma mater, and Wright State.
Attempts to reach McCallum Thursday were unsuccessful.
Turgeon may get interview
Television station KWCH in Wichita, Kan., reported Thursday Oklahoma has sought and received permission to talk to Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon. He is expected to interview with Castiglione as early as today in Indianapolis.
Turgeon, who just completed his sixth season with the Shockers, has been a hot commodity in coaching circles since guiding Wichita State to a 26-9 mark and winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and advancing the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Turgeon, 40, came to Wichita State after two seasons at Jacksonville State where he had a 25-29 record.
Prior to those jobs he was an assistant at Kansas under Larry Brown and Roy Williams from 1987-1992. In 1992, he left to become an assistant at Oregon under current OU director of basketball operations Jerry Green for five seasons.
When Green left for Tennessee, in 1997, Turgeon went to the NBA for one season, working as an assistant for Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Hoffman running things for now
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