According to numerous reports, Fran is the leading candidate for the Seton Hall job, which was vacated by former MAAC coach Bobby Gonzalez almost a week ago. Pete has more at his blog.

This story is all over the local NJ papers, though according to Pete, Fran’s interest level is unknown.

I always thought that if he was going to leave, it would be after the Big 3′s tenure, but I don’t think Seton hall is the right job for him. Why would you want to enter that mess in that conference? When he came to Siena, yes he inherited a mess, but it was still a school with a lot to offer– good program prestige, the big stage, and obviously, him.

He has said countless times that his family likes Albany and he still has 7 years on his contract. I do think he’ll leave eventually, but he’s still so young– he’ll hold out for the ND job, which it looks like won’t open up this year.

John D’Argenio, Siena’s Director of Athletics released the following statement;

Fran has had a tremendous amount of success at Siena both in the MAAC and at the national level. I would expect that other schools would be interested in him and his talents as a coach. I don’t think it is appropriate to comment on specific jobs or on another school’s search process.

Meanwhile, is anyone talking about how right Fran was on UNI?