Michigan State assistant Jim Boylen will fly out to Salt Lake City next week, where he'll interview for the Utah job the Detroit News reports. Boylen and the Spartans lost a close contest to North Carolina yesterday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With Michigan State eliminated, Chris Hill can officially begin talks with Boylen and even offer him the job if he likes what he hears. It's also being reported by the Detroit Press that Boylen is a candidate for the newly vacant Michigan job. Saturday the Wolverines fired Tommy Amaker and have shown interest in Boylen.
Though he lacks head coaching experience, Boylen was an assistant in the NBA for 13 years and has spent the past two seasons as Tom Izzo's top assistant at Michigan State. It's widely believed he's the top candidate to replace Izzo when he decides to leave East Lansing.
While it would appear Boylen is a top candidate for the job, Hill will probably interview other candidates, including those currently playing in the NCAA Tournament. Gregg Marshall, the current head coach of Winthrop, seems to be a potential candidate, though there has been little evidence to suggest he would be interested in the Utah job. Another candidate is Kent State head coach Jim Christian, though he probably is toward the bottom of Hill's list, as they have yet to discuss the Utah job.
Other potential candidates are Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor, Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton and Tommy Connor, the current head coach at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.