Louisiana Tech’s Mike White was the focus Tennessee’s basketball coaching search over the weekend. The two sides have, as of 12:15 pm Monday, been unable to come to terms and talks have broken down. Buyout numbers on both sides were holding up a potential deal. When we reached out to sources close to LA Tech this morning, we heard conflicting reports.

Several boosters at LA Tech have maintained throughout the weekend that White will stay there one more year. Likewise at least one high level booster was told White is staying as recently as this morning. Still, sources close to the program urged that nothing is official and White will be in play for the Tennessee job until he either publicly turns UT down or the Vols start to pursue other candidates. Talks between the two parities cooled considerably since yesterday, but a deal is still not officially dead. Expect a final decision sometime this afternoon and Mike White is now officially staying at LA Tech according to multiple reports.

Look for Dave Hart to turn to Southern Mississippi’s Donnie Tyndall. With eight years of experience, two NCAA berths, and a 56-17 (77%) record the last two years, Tyndall is a name we’ve heard from day one of the coaching search. He’s made it known he wants to hear from UT and would be a nice fit on Rocky Top. Southern Mississippi missed the tournament last year despite an RPI of 33—the third-best RPI to ever be excluded from the field.

UPDATE (4:30 pm, Monday): In addition to quickly turning around two struggling programs (Morehead State and Southern Miss), Tyndall spent time as an assistant at LSU (97-2001) and at Middle Tennessee State (02-06) and is familiar with the SEC and UT. We expected Tyndall to be contacted by Tennessee sometime early in the search, but as of 4:07 pm on Monday afternoon, he has not heard from Tennessee directly. Tyndall got in some NCAA hot water for “major violations in its recruiting related to a booster activity” while at Morehead State. Those violations resulted in two years probation and the loss of a scholarship. Those violations could have played a role in Hart targeting White before Tyndall. Regardless, he’s still likely to be the next target on Dave Hart’s list—as we’ve reported all weekend. Tyndall is making $500,000 and has a buyout around $700,000.

Belmont’s Rick Byrd is also a name to watch moving forward. It would be shocking if either Tyndall or Byrd turned the job down.

More on the coaching search as it develops.