N.C. State still is seeking a basketball coach after two top candidates — West Virginia’s John Beilein and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, now an ESPN analyst — said Wednesday they were staying in their current jobs.

The latest name to emerge as a possible candidate is Phil Ford, the former North Carolina All-American guard and now an assistant on Larry Brown’s staff with the New York Knicks.

A source with knowledge of the search said Ford, 50, has had discussions this week with NCSU athletics officials and is very interested in the job. Ford, a Rocky Mount native, served as an assistant at UNC under former coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge but has never been a head coach. He previously served on Brown’s staff with the Detroit Pistons.

When asked if he had been contacted by N.C. State, Ford replied:

"I don't feel like that's for me to say. That's for people at N.C. State to talk about.

"But I would be very flattered to be considered by N.C. State, and I would do everything in my power to make N.C. State the best program in the country."

Another name that has been in the mix all along is Fordham coach Dereck Whittenburg, one of the heroes on the Pack’s 1983 national championship team. Whittenburg was an assistant coach for the late Jim Valvano at N.C. State and at Georgia Tech for Bobby Cremins before becoming head coach at Wagner in 1999.

Beilein announced late Wednesday afternoon that he was staying at West Virginia, saying, “I am flattered by the interest and recognition that the basketball program has received. West Virginia University and the people of West Virginia have been great to me and my family. I will be the basketball coach at West Virginia next season and I look forward to continued success.”

Earlier in the day, Lavin said he would remain at ESPN, where he is a college basketball analyst.