Randy Bennett officially slams the door on coaching at Utah

Last week, I reported both Chris Hill and Randy Bennet had met to discuss the Utah job and then, after an initial discussion and negotiation, he was likely to turn the job down. 

Today, a week and a half later, Bennett officially and unequivocally turned down the Utah job, according to sources out of California. 

The same article admits both Hill and Bennett met in Phoenix on March 22nd, the day I ran with my story the two parties had met and were negotiating a contract to bring Bennett to Utah.

Ultimately, from what I was told, Bennett essentially told Hill and Utah he was likely to pass on the offer. 

There was some discussion late, specifically Thursday, that Bennett and Hill reentered talks. For whatever reason, neither party could agree to a deal and Bennett will be staying at St. Mary's for at least another season. 

Where does this leave Utah? Well David Locke of 1320 KFAN speculated earlier Thursday afternoon that the list was down to Randy Bennett and Larry Krystkowiak. You do the math. If he's right, Krystkowiak will be Utah's next head coach. 

From my point of view, I was surprised to hear Utah went back to Bennett. It's possible the two sides couldn't come to strong terms originally and Hill tried once more to get him to commit. However, it's apparent, and widely reported now, that there was discussion at the start of last week and it's very, very unlikely Bennett ends up as Utah's next head coach. 

So that would indicate it's now Krystkowiak's job to lose.