Things are heating up a bit in regards to Tennessee’s search for a new basketball coach. Since our last post, several names have been crossed off the list while mutual interest has clarified with other candidates. With Frank Haith jumping from Missouri to Tulsa, Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart will have some competition within the SEC. Martin and Haith ranked 3rd and 4th in conference winning percentage the last three years. Missouri is one of the best jobs in the conference and there is bound to be some overlap of candidates between the two coaching searches.

Several national writers (ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Yahoo’s Pat Forde, and others) have ruled Wichita’s Gregg Marshall, VCU’s Shaka Smart, and Dayton’s Archie Miller out of the running for the Tennessee job. All three were long shots to begin with and nothing we’ve heard locally or read nationally has changed that.

So who are the Vols targeting? Richard Pitino (Minnesota) is a name that had a lot of steam with the fan base yesterday. Several sources close to the program indicated UT is interested in Pitino; however, he’s making $1.2 million and has a $1.5 million buyout. Multiple sources have indicated he’s not interested in the Tennessee job and that UT probably isn’t willing to pay Pitino, a coach with just two years experience and zero NCAA Tournament berths, what it’d take (presumably around $2 million a year) to pique his interest. He’s not out of the picture yet by any stretch, but things have appeared to cool for the moment.

Two other recognizable names are, at least for the moment, in the running: Chris Mack (Xavier) and Mick Cronin (Cincinnati). Mack was a serious candidate for the Wake Forest and California jobs a week ago before deciding to stay at Xavier. He’s making close to $1 million a season and UT could certainly best that. He has listened to multiple job offers the past four years so the seriousness of his interest in UT is tough to gauge. At the very least, he’s willing to listen and the Vols are willing to talk. Mack was an assistant at Xavier twice before taking over its head coaching job five years ago. He also played at Xavier and is from Ohio. It’ll be tough for anyone to pull him away from his comfort zone, but he’s a possibility and would be a huge hire—he’s taken Xavier to four NCAA Tournaments in five years and made two Sweet Sixteens.

Mick Cronin, like Mack, has extensive ties to his current job. He’s a Cincinnati native, went to school there, was an assistant with the Bearcats for four years, has been their head coach for eight seasons and taken them to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He’s also making in the ballpark of $2 million annually and would come at a steep price. Cronin has flirted with multiple jobs in the past (Virginia Tech, NC State, Nebraska, and others) but has yet to bolt. He grew up a Cincinnati fan and it’ll take a perfect fit to convince him to leave. It’s no secret Cincy has some of the worst facilities in the nation and they’ve been slow to make the improvements Cronin wants to see. Tennessee certainly has a leg up on his current job in those areas. Is that enough to get him to leave his “dream job”? Does Hart want to pay in the $2.3 to $2.5 million range for a coach who’s won 60% of his games at his current job? We’ll see.

Other names to watch: Donnie Tyndall (Southern Miss) and Michael White (LA Tech). Both have won at a high rate and are relatively young, energetic coaches. As of yesterday, a source at LA Tech said White had not been contacted by Tennessee. If the search starts to focus on them, or anyone else, we’ll update you.