BY Boston Globe

Bruce Pearl led Tennessee to its winningest season, a brief No. 1 ranking, and a regular-season Southeastern Conference title in only his third year at the helm.

more stories like thisLet the speculation begin. With coaching vacancies cropping up around the country, Pearl almost certainly will draw some suitors.

Pearl, though, seems to want to stay at Tennessee.

"It's great to be a Tennessee Vol. I absolutely anticipate - if Tennessee will have me - being back at Tennessee. I think they'll have me," said Pearl, whose team lost, 79-60, to Louisville in Thursday's regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.

After last season's regional semifinal loss to Ohio State, Pearl's name was rumored as a candidate for the Kentucky job vacated by Tubby Smith.

Instead, Billy Gillispie was hired with a seven-year contract worth $2.3 million a year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.

Pearl's contract is worth $1.3 million a year and currently runs through 2013. It includes built-in salary increases, bonuses for postseason play, and a "loyalty bonus" of $500,000, should he stay at Tennessee through 2009-10.

Athletic department spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said Hamilton and Pearl would hold formal contract talks some time in the next 30 days

Christian lands at TCU

TCU hired Jim Christian away from Kent State, hoping his penchant for 20-win seasons with the Golden Flashes translates to the moribund Horned Frogs.

Christian was 138-58 in six years at Kent State, winning at least 20 games each season. The Golden Flashes were 28-7 this year, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to UNLV.

Neil Dougherty was fired by TCU March 16, three days after a 14-16 season ended. He had a year left on his contract. Dougherty was 75-108 in his six seasons, with a winning record only once.

"Jim Christian is a proven head coach and a perfect fit for TCU," athletic director Danny Morrison said. "He was targeted early in the process, and we couldn't be happier to have him as our men's basketball coach."

At Kent State, the 41-year-old Christian became the first Mid-American Conference coach to win 20 games in each of his first six seasons. But he didn't win a postseason game, losing in the first round of the NCAAs twice and the NIT three times.

After the Golden Flashes went 25-9 in 2005-06, Christian got a new seven-year contract through the 2012-13 season.

McGee jumping to NBA

Nevada sophomore Javale McGee, the top shot-blocker in the Western Athletic Conference this season, has decided to sign with an agent and enter the NBA draft this year. The 7-foot McGee averaged 2.8 blocks per game, along with 14 points and 7.4 rebounds. Nevada spokeswoman Rhonda Lundin said a formal announcement of McGee's plans would be made at a news conference tomorrow. "He intends to hire an agent and forfeit his final two seasons at Nevada," Lundin said. Reno's KRNV-TV reported that McGee has hired agent Eugene Parker, who has represented Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, and many other NFL players . . . Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn, who led the Hilltoppers on a nice run in the NCAA Tournament, will interview for the job at South Carolina. Horn told WKU athletic director Wood Selig that he has been approached by the Gamecocks about the vacancy left by Dave Odom's retirement. The 35-year-old Horn guided the Hilltoppers (29-7) to the Sun Belt title and a spot in the West Regional semifinals, where they l

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