Speculation that Bob Knight will soon coach the OSU basketball team may wane.
The Texas Tech coach has agreed in principle to a three-year contract extension that will keep him in West Texas until 2009, athletic director Gerald Myers said Wednesday.
Myers declined to release details but told The Associated Press that the contract probably will be signed next week.
Knight, a former Ohio State player, has been mentioned as a possible successsor to Jim O'Brien who was fired Tuesday after admitting to giving a recruit $6,000.
Knight's contract currently pays him $250,000 per year and runs through May 2006.
"I'm pleased with the direction our program," Myers said. "He's done a great job turning everything around. I think the future really looks good for us."
Knight is on vacation in Canada and was unavailable to comment Wednesday, but he told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on Tuesday that he is excited about the deal. "I look forward to doing this a long time," he said in Wednesday's editions.
"This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."
He will begin his fourth season at Tech -- his 39th overall -- with 832 wins. Knight needs 48 victories to overtake Dean Smith of North Carolina (879) as the all-time winningest male coach in Division I.Meanwhile on the OSU campus, students had mixed reactions about O'Brien's firing and different ideas as to who should replace him.