ST. LOUIS (AP) A Southern Illinois official says the school has hired former Missouri State coach Barry Hinson to be its new men's basketball coach.
The university official told The Associated Press about the hiring on the condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the official announcement scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Hinson was fired by the Bears in 2008 after failing to take Missouri State to the NCAA tournament in nine seasons. He lately has been serving as director of men's basketball operations at Kansas.
Hinson replaces Chris Lowery, who went 145-116 in eight seasons with the Salukis but was fired March 2 after an 8-23 season.
Lowery's teams made three NCAA tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 in 2007. But the Salukis haven't been to the tournament since then and have had a losing record in three of their past four seasons.
