Idaho meets with Gonzaga assistant

Leon Rice, a Gonzaga assistant basketball coach, met yesterday with University of Idaho officials in Moscow about the vacant Vandals men's basketball job created last week with the firing of Leonard Perry.

Rice, 42, is believed to be the leading candidate for the post.

"I will consider it," Rice said, adding that he will keep his immediate attention on the Zags, headed for the NCAA tournament.

Rice interviewed four years ago at Montana. He has been on Gonzaga's staff since 1999 and has extensive Northwest ties.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga is negotiating with Duke to try to arrange a game at Madison Square Garden next December.

Gonzaga basketball operations director Jerry Krause said last night no contracts have been signed and the deal could not yet be termed "close."

"We're talking with them," Krause said. "We've talked to them about five years. We've talked home-and-home, single games. Obviously, it's a great program, and we'd like sometime to get to play them."

The matchup wouldn't have the luster of this season, with player-of-the-year candidates J.J. Redick of Duke and Adam Morrison of Gonzaga.

Gonzaga, after winning the WCC championship Monday night in Spokane, took Tuesday and Wednesday off and has practiced the past three days. Center J.P. Batista, bothered in the WCC tournament by a quad bruise, had a relatively full practice Saturday.