NCAA MEN’S NOTES

Bob Knight could be back in Bloomington, Ind., in late 2002--if Indiana and Texas Tech keep their date to play at Assembly Hall.

Indiana Athletic Director Clarence Doninger, who signed the deal in 1999, said he expects the game to be played although no date has been set.

Texas Tech agreed to a two-for-one deal in which the Hoosiers visited Lubbock, Texas, for the opening of the United Spirit Arena in 1999.

Texas Tech traveled to Bloomington last season for the Indiana Classic. The final game of the deal is scheduled for late 2002 and would put Knight on the visitors’ bench at Assembly Hall.

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Purdue Coach Gene Keady, the dean of Big Ten Conference coaches, received a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the Boilermaker helm through the 2004-05 season. No terms were disclosed. Keady, 64, has a 456-206 record and has won six Big Ten championships in 21 years with the Boilermakers. . . . Tim O’Shea, 39, an assistant at Boston College the last four seasons, was named coach at Ohio. He was given a seven-year contract with a base salary of $150,000 and other incentives that would make the deal worth $250,000 a year. . . . Monte Towe, a 5-foot-7 guard who helped North Carolina State win a national title in 1974, was hired as coach at New Orleans. Towe, 47, was the coach at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla., the last two seasons. Towe replaces Joey Stiebing, the Sun Belt Conference coach of the year who was fired after the conference tournament. New Orleans was 17-12 this past season, but revenue and attendance took dramatic drops. . . . Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins, whose contract runs through June 30, 2005, is seeking an extension. Athletic Director Bob Goin plans to discuss the matter with Huggins after the spring recruiting period. . . . Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches, criticized the NBA’s proposed National Basketball Development League, saying it would give kids the incorrect impression that an education isn’t important because they can earn a living playing basketball. Players in the league, which is targeted to start in November, would earn about $30,000 a year. . . . Mississippi State center Robert Jackson is transferring to Marquette. The 6-foot-8 junior averaged 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds this season. . . . Nevada guard Andre Hazel, who faced felony charges and the likely end of his career over the theft of a $140 pair of sneakers, has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty larceny in the case. He was given a 90-day suspended jail sentence and must perform community service. . . . William Patterson’s Horace Jenkins won the slam dunk title over USC’s Jeff Trepagnier at St. Paul, Minn. The competition is held in conjunction with the Final Four.