CHARLOTTE
UNC Charlotte has turned to assistant coach Alan Major of Ohio State to try to get its men's basketball program back in the NCAA Tournament, a source told The Associated Press yesterday.
Major accepted his first head-coaching job a day after interviewing for it, the source said on the condition of anonymity.
Major, 41, will replace Bobby Lutz, who has more wins than any other 49ers coach but was fired last month after 12 seasons and his team's fifth straight year without an NCAA Tournament bid.
Athletics Director Judy Rose wouldn't confirm or deny Major's hiring and said she wouldn't comment until a news conference is held. Major did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment.
Rose said when she announced Lutz's firing that she wanted the new coach to have a "high energy level," and she interviewed a handful of assistants around the country, including Xavier's Pat Kelsey.
Major has spent the past six seasons at Ohio State helping the Buckeyes reach the national-championship game in 2007 and a berth in the round of 16 this year before an upset loss to Tennessee.
Major, a native of Indianapolis, also spent three seasons as an assistant at Xavier, under current Ohio State coach Thad Matta. He graduated from Purdue in 1992, where he was a team manager under Gene Keady, then coached at Pacific and Southern Illinois.
Major will take over a team that went 19-12 last season and returns several key players.
But UNC Charlotte was 18-5 at one point and alone in first place in the Atlantic 10 before losing seven of its last eight and missing an NCAA or NIT bid.
That led to Lutz's ouster despite his 218-158 record, and the school still owes him $948,000 in base pay for the final four years of his contract, unless he gets another head-coaching job. The length of Major's contract and his salary weren't immediately available.
After being a routine NCAA qualifier when it was in Conference USA, UNCC has struggled to adjust to the Atlantic 10, which it joined in 2005-06 after nationwide realignment.
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