A day after Jeff Lebo’s name was mentioned for the basketball coaching vacancy at Penn State by Andy Katz of ESPN, Lebo responded.
East Carolina released a statement Thursday afternoon saying that Lebo has not been contacted by any other institutions about a coaching vacancy.
Because of his ties with Eddie Fogler, a former college coach helping Tim Curley with the search for a new coach, the Carlisle native was considered a frontrunner for the job at Penn State.
But on Thursday afternoon, he reaffirmed his commitment to East Carolina.
"My family and I are very happy at East Carolina and I am committed to continuing to build the basketball program here,” Lebo said in the statement.
With Lebo apparently staying put, another name popped up on Thursday in the search to replace Ed DeChellis.
FightOnState.com’s Mark Brennan tweeted that former Utah head coach Jim Boylen is "in the mix" for the position at Penn State.
Boylen, 46, spent four seasons coaching the Utes and took them to the NCAA tournament in 2009. However he was fired in March following a 13-18 campaign in the 2010-11 season.
Boylen spent significant amount of time at the professional level. He served as an assistant coach in the NBA from 1992-2005, spending time with the Rockets, Warriors and Bucks.
The Big Ten is not unfamiliar territory for Boylen who was an assistant coach at Michigan State twice in his career. His first tenure was from 1987-92 under Jud Heathcote and again from 2005-07 under current Spartan coach Tom Izzo.
Stay with the Collegian for continuing updates on Penn State's search for a new basketball coach.
