SPOKANE — San Diego basketball coach Bill Grier is not interested in taking the vacant job at Washington State, and Cougar officials are scrambling to hold on to recent recruits.

Grier, a long-time assistant at Gonzaga, told The San Diego Union-Tribune he is not interested in replacing Tony Bennett.

“I feel good about the kids we have returning here next season and I’m happy with where I am,” Grier, who spent 16 years at Gonzaga, told the newspaper in Wednesday’s editions.

Media speculation is focusing on Portland State coach Ken Bone, who has deep Northwest roots and has taken the Vikings to consecutive NCAA basketball tournaments. However, Bone would be a second consecutive major hire from the low-profile Big Sky Conference for WSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk.

Sterk has caught some heat for hiring football coach Paul Wulff from Eastern Washington, after the Cougars went 2-11 in Wulff’s first season.

Bone did not immediately return a telephone message on Wednesday.

Other potential candidates bouncing around the blogosphere include Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett and Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti, who was former head coach at Utah, Eastern Washington and North Dakota State. There have even been suggestions to lure legend Bob Knight out of retirement.

Tony Bennett, who spent six years in Pullman, three as an assistant, was introduced as the new Virginia coach on Wednesday.

“It was hard to leave, but it takes a place like this to make that happen,” he said at a press conference. “Pullman is special and anybody who has been there understands that.”

Bennett said he did not leave because WSU faced major rebuilding with just one senior and one junior returning.

“We had a bunch of freshmen and sophomores coming into WSU. I’m real excited about their future,” he said. “We had two kids on the all-freshmen team. Certainly the next head coach will have to build it up for a year or two, but there’s some great promise.”

He said he’ll encourage the four high school recruits who have signed with WSU to honor their commitments. Those recruits, Brock Motum, Xavier Thames, Anthony Brown and David Chadwick, would have to sit out a year if they leave.

“I called every one of them and said there’s something very good on the horizon there and encouraged them to go there and meet the new head coach, just as we’re doing here,” Bennett said.

“They all went there because of the coaching staff, certainly, but also because of Washington State and the people there. I’m encouraging them to honor their letter. That will be between them and Washington State.”

Bennett said he is trying to hire former Oregon State coach Ritchie McKay from Liberty as an assistant, and may bring one or two of his assistants from WSU. Those assistants are Matt Woodley, Ben Johnson, Ron Sanchez and Mike Heideman.

“I came here to build a program that lasts,” Bennett said. “I can’t wait to get recruits here.”

Bone, 50, has led Portland State to consecutive 23-10 seasons, the most wins in team history. They have made the program’s only two trips to the NCAA tournament the past two years. Bone is 77-49 in four seasons at Portland State. Before that, he was 253-97 in 12 seasons as head coach at Seattle Pacific, and spent three seasons as an assistant at Washington. Sterk worked at Seattle Pacific when Bone was a coach there.

Sterk wants to move quickly in order to keep the nine freshmen in last year’s class and four new players Bennett signed for next season.