Kenny Payne, assistant coach of Kentucky, met with Mississippi State on Friday about their head coaching vacancy.

Payne has no head coaching experience and is closely tied to William Wesley.

Wesley helped Payne secure an assistant job at Oregon and then joined John Calipari at Kentucky two years ago.

Kansas assistant Danny Manning is expected to be named Tulsa’s next head coach. The two sides had yet to reach an agreement on the length of the contract

“I’ll comment: ‘not done deal,’’’ Jayhawks head coach Bill Self said. “He’s had talks with them and interviewed. I know that he was very encouraged and excited about the prospect of it. It’s not done. It’s not done, but there are talks going on. Who knows what will happen next?”

Manning has been an assistant coach on Self’s staff since 2007.

Illinois has reportedly reached a deal with Ohio’s John Groce to replace Bruce Weber as men’s basketball coach.

Groce took Ohio to the NCAA tournament twice, including a run to the Sweet 16 this season before the Bobcats lost to North Carolina in overtime.

Groce compiled a 85-56 record over four seasons at Ohio.

Larry Brown has expressed interest in the open Southern Methodist University coaching job.

“SMU is a great school, it’s going into the Big East and Dallas is a great market,” Brown said. “You’ve got the Mavericks there with Cuban, he’s really a good owner and that’s a great situation, to have a team in that city with all the success they’ve had.”

Brown, 71, most recently coached the Bobcats in 2010.

“I’m going to be doing something in basketball, whether it’s in the NBA as a coach or a GM or an assistant, whatever, or something in college,” Brown said. “I don’t know what, but I just feel like I need to stay on and pass along what I’ve been taught.”

Alex Oriakhi received his official release from UConn, which means he can begin talking to prospective schools.

North Carolina, Missouri and Duke are among the teams that have reached out to Oriakhi, who averaged a career-low 21.5 minutes and 4.8 rebounds per game as a junior.

He will not consider Duke, according to a source.

Jeremy Lamb is expected to enter the June 28 draft.

Lamb, a 6-foot-5, 180 pound shooting guard, is billed as a possible lottery pick.

He averaged 17.7 points on 47.8 percent shooting this past season.

John Groce, who led Ohio to the Sweet 16 last week, is in negotiations to become the next head coach of Illinois.

Multiple sources say Groce is negotiating a contract with Illinois.

Illinois has previously been unable to convince Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens to accept the position.

Groce is known for being an elite recruiter and was critical in convincing Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. to attend Ohio State when he was an assistant.

Frank Martin will leave Kansas State to become the next head coach of South Carolina.

South Carolina is replacing Darrin Horn after a 10 win season.

Brad Stevens released a statement confirming he will stay at Butler in response to media reports indicating he was being pursued by Illinois.

“I am happy and extremely grateful to be the head coach at Butler University, and I am already looking forward to next season and the start of our postseason workouts in April,” Stevens said in a statement released by the school. 

Stevens owns a 139-40 record in five seasons as coach of the Bulldogs.

Illinois is targeting Brad Stevens as its next head coach, according to a report.

The Illini previously pursued Shaka Smart, who is staying at Virginia Commonwealth.

Stevens, 35, has a 139-40 record in 5 seasons at Butler and led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2010 and 2011.