Bruce Parkhill is close to deciding if he will join old friend and Ohio State men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien on the Buckeyes' floor next year as an assistant coach.

He's so close, in fact, that he might have made his decision last night.

Parkhill said yesterday during an 8 p.m. telephone interview that he "was in the process of making a decision" and had expected to make one some time later yesterday evening.

He declined to release his decision until this morning, saying he wanted to notify Ohio State first.

"Right now, it's looking real good," Parkhill said from his State College home.

"The hurdle that I have to overcome is leaving here, but people have told me I can just come back, which is true.

"And that's exactly what I intend to do. I want to retire here."

Parkhill had practically done just that earlier this summer, intending to improve his golf game and broaden his interests.

He also had still planned to broadcast Nittany Lions basketball games for ESPN-Plus.

That all changed when O'Brien called Parkhill a few weeks ago.

Now, the former Penn State coach has an opportunity to slide into a right-hand-man spot with O'Brien, Parkhill's friend for 20 years.

Parkhill never liked recruiting during his 12-year tenure, yet he convinced the likes of Calvin Booth, Pete Lisicky, John Amaechi, Dan Earl and Jarrett Stephens to come to Happy Valley.

He loved coaching, though.

And it showed.

In those 12 years, he amassed a 181-169 record, garnering five postseason trips (four National Invitation Tournaments, one NCAA Tournament).

More importantly, he brought respect back to a program that clearly had been fledging.

O'Brien knows about his friend's distaste for recruiting, too, so his job offer had everything Parkhill loved about coaching -- except that.

Most non-recruiting positions on most coaching staffs, Parkhill said, are entry level. But not O'Brien's.

It was Parkhill's idea of a coaching utopia.

Still, it took a little more to pry his eyes away from Penn State.

"When he called and explained the situation to me, I hadn't really thought about it. But my wife told me that if I didn't consider it, I'll regret it down the road," Parkhill said.

"He's one of the few people I'd consider working with."

O'Brien could not be reached for comment.

Penn State Athletics Director Tim Curley, who took over for 35-year director Jim Tarman in late 1993 (Parkhill's 10th year as coach), is encouraging the former coach-turned assistant athletics director to pursue the opportunity.

Hearing the name "Ohio State," however, still hits Curley hard, given the rivalry between the two Big Ten powerhouses.

"Bruce and I would prefer if it was a non-conference situation," Curley said.

"But he has to address the opportunity in front of him.

"It's probably a rare opportunity he's had to look at," Curley added.

"Five years have gone by since he's been a head coach, and college basketball will be better with him inside the game than outside the game."

Parkhill echoes Curley's sentiment.

The decision might have come much sooner, and it definitely would have been easier, had another school from another conference far away from the Big Ten called.

"This place, I love it," Parkhill said of Happy Valley.

"This is a tough thing for me to think about. But the timing of it all was just right."

Penn State's current coach and Parkhill's successor, Jerry Dunn, had interviewed with Tulane earlier this summer about the then-vacant head coaching spot there.

Dunn, however, said the interview was just done as a courtesy, and he withdrew his name from consideration soon after meeting with Green Wave officials.

Parkhill retired Sept. 6, 1995, six weeks before the start of the season.

Dunn, who was an assistant coach at the time, took over almost immediately, guiding the Lions to a 21-7 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Since then, Dunn's teams have gone just 61-60.