Southern Miss is set to hire Morehead State's Donnie Tyndall as its next men's basketball coach, said a person familiar with the move.
Tyndall has agreed to a four-year deal and is expected to be introduced on Monday afternoon, the person told The Associated Press Saturday on condition of anonymity because no announcement by either school has been made.
The 41-year-old Tyndall has coached at Morehead State the past six seasons, leading the program to two NCAA tournament appearances, including an upset of Louisville in the first round in 2011.
Tyndall takes over for Larry Eustachy, who led the Golden Eagles to their first NCAA tournament appearance in more than 20 years in March before becoming Colorado State's men's basketball coach earlier this month.
Southern Miss has plenty of talent returning from last year's team that finished with a 25-9 record, including an 11-5 mark in Conference USA. The top two leading scorers — Neil Watson and LaShay Page - are expected to return next season, as is leading rebounder Jonathan Mills.
Before becoming the head coach at Morehead State, Tyndall was an assistant at LSU, Idaho and Middle Tennessee. Tyndall's NCAA tournament teams at Morehead State were centered around Kenneth Faried, who blossomed from a lightly-recruited forward to one of the best players in the country. He was selected in the first round of the NBA draft and now plays for the Denver Nuggets.
Southern Miss interim athletic director Jeff Hammond led the coaching search. He is one of the candidates to become the full-time athletic director, but that decision probably won't be made until the school selects a new university president.
