Originally published April 6, 2009 at 12:26 AM | Page modified April 6, 2009 at 12:55 AM

Ken Bone, Stew Morrill interviewed by Washington State

It's possible the legwork Washington State officials did in pursuing a new basketball coach at the Final Four in Detroit was only the undercard...

By Bud Withers

Seattle Times staff reporter

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Ken Bone is a former Seattle Pacific head coach and Washington assistant.

It's possible the legwork Washington State officials did in pursuing a new basketball coach at the Final Four in Detroit was only the undercard to the main event.

Sunday, WSU interviewed both Portland State coach Ken Bone and Utah State coach Stew Morrill in Seattle, and those two appear to be among the top choices to succeed Tony Bennett, who abruptly left for Virginia last Monday.

WSU athletic director Jim Sterk and two associates spent a couple of days in Detroit interviewing candidates, among them Mike Davis of Alabama-Birmingham, but the choice could come down to two veteran coaches who have had great success in their current jobs.

Bone, 51 next month, has an old association with Sterk, when they crossed paths at Seattle Pacific in 1990-91 (Sterk was associate AD at SPU). That marked the start of Bone's head-coaching run at SPU that lasted until 2002. He became an assistant at Washington until 2005, and since then has compiled a 77-49 record at PSU, with back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2008-09.

Morrill, 56, is a 1974 Gonzaga grad and former assistant who then worked nine years under Mike Montgomery at Montana.

Morrill took over the Montana head job in 1986, coached there for five years with one NCAA tournament berth; went on to Colorado State from 1991-98, where he had moderate success until two 20-win seasons his final two years; and has been at Utah State the past 11 seasons, where he has been hugely successful, with a combined conference record of 138-46 and six NCAA appearances.

It may be easier for the Cougars to land Bone than Morrill. WSU was paying Bennett $1 million annually, but with austere budget times, it's unknown whether it can match or exceed that.

Morrill has a package at Utah State of about $600,000, he has family nearby, and he is known to feel comfortable out of the spotlight in Logan.

Meanwhile, WSU could probably triple Bone's salary, and he is known to be interested at the chance to coach at a higher level.

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