Whoever gets the Utah job would likely earn somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million per year. Giacoletti received a seven-year deal that averaged $500,000, while Majerus was making close to $1 million when he left. Football coach Kyle Whittingham signed a deal worth $675,000 two years ago.

So the question everyone wants to know is when will Utah name a new coach? The guess from here is that it will happen by the middle of next week.

When Giacoletti was hired in 2004, it was on March 31, three days before the start of the Final Four. When Majerus was hired in 1989, the official announcement came the day after the Final Four, but it was 22 days after Lynn Archibald was fired. Football coach Urban Meyer was hired 17 days after Ron McBride was fired in 2002.

One thing that would prevent an announcement before the Final Four would be if one of the candidates Hill was courting happened to be involved with a team that was playing the following weekend.

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E-mail: sor@desnews.com