Former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy notified the Houston Rockets this morning that he will accept their head coaching job, leaving the Washington Wizards still searching.

The Wizards interviewed Van Gundy last Wednesday and hoped to hire him as coach and, possibly, president of basketball operations. However, Van Gundy joined former Philadelphia coach Larry Brown, now coach of the Detroit Pistons, in spurning the Wizards for teams with more recent success and better players despite the lure of both jobs and a possible salary of about $7 million per year.

There were reports today that Washington only had offered Van Gundy the coaching job, left vacant when the Wizards fired one of Van Gundy's good friends, Doug Collins. However, league sources said Van Gundy had the opportunity to oversee player personnel and to coach the Wizards. Washington was said to be optimistic that it could land Van Gundy, in part because Van Gundy and his wife were concerned about moving their family from New York to Houston, a source said.